Begin With the End In Mind
by EarlyMorningWriter
Summary: (Part 3 of a 7 part series) Work begins to rebuild the country. Kara, Danny, Tom, Mike, Tex, Michener and many others work to figure out where to go and what to do to keep the country from total collapse.
1. Chapter 1 America the Beautiful

This is a monster chapter but I just couldn't figure out where to naturally break it. This is also where I am about to seriously deviate course from canon. I'll work my way back around later. I've had this chapter floating around in my head ever since the scene at the end of season 2 where Michener takes his oath or office. I recently learned that you have the option to "solomnly swear" and say the "so help me God." part or "affirm" and skip the God part. The only president who is known for sure to have affirmed rather than sworn is Franklin Pierce, who seems like a good model for Michener as he had some deep tragedies in his life and was a man with oddly mixed ideals. One biographer even described his rise to a presidency as an accident. As we saw in Season 2, Michener solomnly swore. I have to do this soon and I haven't decided which option I am going to pick. I've read what Justice Roberts had to say about the oath and the constitutionality of saying so help me God at the end (in Nina Totenberg's voice like I automatically do with all news regarding the supreme court) and I am still not sure I feel, despite being a fairly religious person myself, that it allows appropriate separation of church and state. In the long run, my work will have far less consequence than Pierce's, who despite what many would call a failed presidency, had a profound impact on our country. Anyhow, I have two weeks at the beach in Maine (or as this former Massachusetts girl likes to call it, the Switzerland of America) to make up my mind.

**America the Beautiful, Ray Charles**

Kara woke when the dog leapt off the foot of the bed. Danny was trying to be quiet as he rummaged in the kitchen for a snack, but the dog was moving the minute he heard the lid come off the jar of peanut butter. The bedside clock said four AM and as much as she wanted to go chat, she needed more sleep. She pulled a pillow, one that smelled deliciously of his scent, over her head and tried her best.

Five minutes later she admitted to herself that it wasn't happening. Flutter was intent on kicking her in the bladder it seemed. She wiggled her feet to the floor and shuffled to the bathroom. When she came out, she saw he was sitting at the kitchen bar, picking through a small candy box. Curious, she padded out to his side.

He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his body. Chilled, since the hotel thermostat was locked at 65 due to the energy rationing, she sank into his warmth. "Hey" He kept his voice hushed as he kissed the underside of her chin. "You guys need your sleep."

She smiled and stole a peanut butter cracker from his plate and passed it down to the waiting dog. Trust Danny to come home from working at 4 AM and tell her that she was the one that needed sleep. "So do you. And it's warmer under the covers. Certainly more fun than hanging out here in the kitchen going through…" She eyed the little box on the counter "a bunch of pins and old jewelry. What are you doing?"

He grinned and shuffled the box but she sensed a tensing of his muscles along her side. Whatever he was doing, he was nervous to tell her. "You've caught me." He pinched a small object between his fingers and it jingled as he pulled it from the little box. He grabbed her hand and released the object into her palm. It was two rings, tied together with a bit of thread.

She gasped, her other hand going to her collarbone in shock. "Did these belong to your parents?" She turned one ring into the dim light and admired the pretty inset metalwork gleaming in a the soft gold.

He nodded against her side. "I'm pretty sure they aren't actually cursed." He teased. "But if you want something different or you feel spooked that their marriage didn't turn out well, I can get something new or we can melt them down and..."

She interrupted him with a peck on the forehead. "No, I think they will be lovely. They are just objects. They can't be cursed." At least the rational side of her believed that. Well it wanted to believe it since they were such beautiful bands. "And it will be nice to wear something from my family and something from yours together, even if it's unlikely they will ever meet.

The muscles of his shoulders relaxed and she was reminded of how nervous he had been about proposing. Tex had later told her he'd almost asked her several times in the weeks after he'd gotten the ring in Norfolk, but chickened out, wanting it to be just right. "I was afraid you might not want them, like the way you don't want to wear your father's oak leaves." He shuffled the box slightly before setting the lid back on top, but she noticed there were many pins inside.

Her own father's oak leaves were pinned to a roll of fabric in her sock drawer. The last time she saw either her father or her brother in uniform, they had been wearing them. Her father had retired as a Major when her mother crashed a car coming home from a bar at 3 AM. Kara had been home alone, only 8 years old. The next time she saw them was when her oldest brother Eric had come half way across the world to gift her with their father's butterbar at her commissioning from the academy. It was actually the last day she'd seen him in person. He had just been promoted to Major himself and she would never forget how invincible he'd seemed to her, resplendent in his tan beret and green dress uniform, the pin that had been their father's shining on his collar. At dinner that night, he had regaled her with stories of his successful missions and she had asked him many questions about his work. He had been working with the Kurds, training snipers within their own forces, so the US could reduce troop numbers without leaving the region in chaos. He'd even joked that she better get herself a clearance before the next time he came home if she was going to keep asking him so many details.

"I don't think I'll know until the time comes if I'm ready for that. I know it will be hard to take off the bars I wear now. Eric sent them in the mail from God knows where, after we got back from the Congo last year. It was the last I ever heard from him. Putting them in a box would feel like putting him in a box." Of course, this entire conversation assumed that she stayed in the Navy. She knew Danny had no intentions of resigning his commission but she wasn't sure what the future held for her yet. Changing the subject she asked "Are those your dad's pins too?"

He shook his head. "No, he'd already given most of his away by the time I was even born. Most of them are Vince's. When he gave them to me, he said that once he retired he had no intention of ever appearing in uniform again." She recalled the mop of gray hair, cuttoff cargo shorts, and dingy flip flops Vince was sporting the last time she saw him and decided that sounded about right.

Yawning, she nodded toward the bedroom. "I think I need more sleep before tomorrow's big meeting. Come to bed soon? I'll do my best to warm it up while you finish your snack." She had no idea if she did warm the bed much. The minute she hit the pillow she was sound asleep and she stayed that way until Danny was opening the blinds and telling her to get up or there'd be no time for breakfast before the meeting.

The next day Kara tried to project calm and confidence as she followed Chandler into the President's cabinet room. Really, she told herself, there was no reason to be nervous. She had lived and worked with most of these people for weeks at the short end, years at the longest. They had stuck with her even after she'd broken the non-fraternization rules. Still, she had never imagined herself sitting in on a presidential meeting. For the past week she had welcomed Flutter's antics, but right now he seemed to share her jitters and it was quite distracting.

President Michener himself was shaking hands at the doorway as people entered. She had seen him almost every day since he came aboard the ship so she wasn't surprised when he clasped her hands and welcomed her into the meeting room. "Ah, the lovely Lieutenant Foster. I am hopeful that you'll have some good suggestions for us today. How are you? And how is our future citizen?"

"I am well sir, we both are." She hoped the flush of pleasure on her cheeks at his warm greeting was excused as a pregnancy thing.

"Glad to hear it. I think everyone other than you and Danny is looking forward to playing grandparent, aunt, or uncle when he or she arrives."

Her lips curved into a smile and she squeezed his hand. "We feel very lucky to have ended up with such great people, Sir." She replied with sincerity as she moved forward to stand at attention next to Chandler. She had to admit that she genuinely liked the President despite some lingering suspicions about his previous alliance with the Immunes. He was very different than the other political figures she had met in the past. She wondered if that came from not having been elected to the position, and if his friendliness would last once the country did return to normal elections.

Danny and Halsey were standing on the other side of the table but as soon as she took her place the dog crawled under to sit at her feet. A bemused smile crossed her lips. If Danny didn't think she knew he was sending the dog to babysit her, he had another think coming. She knew that dog wouldn't move a muscle once commanded to sit at attention. But, ever since the night of the inaugural ball, whenever they were together he stuck to her like glue. She raised an eyebrow at him across the table but all he did was lift one un-apologetic shoulder in response. She had anticipated this anyways. She reached into her pocket and slipped the dog a nibble of bacon she had saved from breakfast. Danny caught the movement and narrowed his eyes at her. She knew he thought she spoiled the dog but she didn't care. She figured it was always best to stay on the good side of an animal that was perfectly capable of killing you.

The room they were using was one of the courthouse's many former jury chambers. Since arriving a week ago, Michener had transformed the entire first floor of the building into his offices and the second floor into the military offices. The nearby Deloitte building was serving as a second set of defense related offices and the remaining members of the city and local county governments had reopened city hall. This room featured a large whiteboard along one wall and a window that looked out toward the river on another.

She was surprised to see none of the local officials, save Judge Siskin, whom she recognized from the inauguration. People had been streaming into the city ever since the word went out that the cure could be obtained here. Now that their doses had lost contagiousness they were mainly focused on assessing the status of the country while newly innoculated civilians, guided by Burk and Miller, were greeting the new arrivals. So far they knew that large parts of the country were running low on food and energy. The second half of winter was going to be pretty hard if basic services weren't restored.

Once everyone arrived the President shut the door. Heads swiveled in surprise at the loud click as he locked the door. He took the chair at the head of the table. "Please, Please. You know I'm not a formal man." There was a quiet murmur as those assembled sat. The President shuffled a stack of papers, sighed, and then began. "I need to start with a very serious request. Until such time as I have a press secretary in place to advise us all on information releases, nothing said here goes outside of this room." Kara noticed that Chandler gave a short nod. He must have an inkling of what this was about. She was fairly certain, based on the choices of personnel, the locked door, and the president's demeanor, that it wasn't about restoring water and electricity after all.

Michener steepled his hands and leaned forward over the table, eyes moving from person to person as he continued. "I've thought very hard over the last few days about what I am going to say here today. There are grave issues we must deal with. And I have also thought long and hard about what it meant to be a citizen before the Red Flu and what it should mean now. And I want to assure you, that my goal is to work to restore the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States of America. That being said, this is going to be a long process. It took nearly 240 years to make us the nation we were, and we're not going to rebuild that overnight." He paused and looked around the table as if weighting something in his mind. "We have already proclaimed ourselves the rightful government via our constitutional laws of succession. Having witnesses confirming the deaths of each person in line before me, we can be sure that it is appropriate for us to begin governing." There was a collective holding of breath. Kara wondered if he was going to say there was a legitimate challenge to his presidency.

"Through discussions with Val, the woman who was running communications for the Immunes, we have learned of another group, perhaps an ever bigger threat to the United States than the Immunes. She has been able to gather messages that indicate that eleven states are being claimed by a new nation." Eyes connected with eyes around the room as each person wondered grimly what that meant for the future. "Our young friends who joined us from Baton Rouge were able to confirm the existence of the group, who are calling themselves the Mexicali Federation, or MCF." Across from her, Danny stared at her, his sympathetic eyes confusing her. Had he learned more that she didn't already know on his watch last night? That would explain why he'd been so quiet pensive this morning.

Slattery was the first to speak up. "Sir, has there been a formal declaration of succession communicated to you or a previous President?"

The President shook his head. "Are far as we know, there has not. But, from Val's digging we know that about a half hour after my inauguration they issued a press release in El Paso declaring that a man by the name of Carlos Hidalgo had been inaugurated as El Presidente of the Centralized Republic of the Mexicali Federation." This time the collective gasp was audible.

Slattery folded his arms over his chest and sat back contemplating. Kara swore she could see the gears working in his mind. She was sure he was coming to the same conclusion as everyone else. Somehow information about their actions were reaching that organization, and fast. That meant they likely had someone with pretty good access to information working for this rival government right under their noses. Suddenly the locked door made more sense.

Kara glanced toward Chandler and saw that his jaw was set and his posture rigid, but he was looking at the others in the room, rather than at Michener. Suddenly, she couldn't take the weight of it. Eleven states was over twenty percent of the country. Hundreds of thousands of people had lived in those states. What were they now? Citizens? Contested citizens? Traitors? She was surprised to feel a lump in her throat. Even as a military officer, she had never given much thought to how important the intact United States were to her before this moment.

"Sir, please." She clicked her pen and sketched a quick map, aware of the confused looks from those who could see her paper. "Sir, what do we know? Which states? Who is this Carlos Hidalgo? Is he a real threat?" All eyes swung back to Michener and his face actually relaxed a bit, as if he was relieved that he would finally be able to get the burden of this knowledge off his shoulders.

"At this point we know precious little but we need to comb the details to decide the best course of action. The name MCF first cropped up on the internet about five weeks ago but they have probably been coalescing for the last two months or so. They are also claiming a large segment of Mexico as well as..." A low din of comments and murmurs filled the room as he counted the states off his fingers. "California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas" As he spoke, Kara labeled the states on her crude map. "Louisiana, Utah, Colorado, and Kansas." Her eyes shot up from her paper.

"Kansas sir?" She must have startled a bit because Halsey shifted to lean more heavily against her leg.

"Yes, that's your home state, isn't it?" She wasn't surprised he remembered. Everything she had learned about Michener said he paid attention to the details about people.

She swallowed hard. The lump in her throat was threatening to become tears. She could blame the baby hormones but she had a pretty good feeling she'd have felt this way anyways. "Yes." Her voice came out strained. When she glanced at Danny she saw he was watching her closely. She reached under the table and sunk her hands into the dog's fur. Mustering her courage she gave Danny an almost imperceptible nod which he returned. She would be ok. Looking into the green eyes she knew so well, she reminded herself that home was now wherever he was.

The President continued. "We know practically nothing else at this point. It sounds like they were just arriving in Baton Rouge earlier this week, despite claiming the state of Louisiana for the last few weeks. The territory they claim in Mexico is most of the area west of the mountains. They are making El Paso-Ciudad Juarez their capitol which may be a telling choice given the cities' histories with crime and corruption. Val is working on figuring out who this Senor Hidalgo actually is.

"Captain Chandler?" The President nodded to Chandler who stood and moved to the white board. In neat lettering he placed a label at the upper left corner. The Plan: Michener continued talking as Chandler began outlining what he was saying. "Chandler and I have discussed this at length we have developed an initial plan. We have three possible needs to consider." Chandler began 3 columns on the board "1) We need to spread the cure in the US and beyond. 2) We need to gather intel about the MCF and figure out how to deal with them. 3) We need to restore the federal government and encourage the re-establishment of state and local governments everywhere we can to prevent further spread of the MCF." Heads nodded around the room. No one would argue with that.

Michener continued. "The United States is officially under a state of emergency and as such, I have the authority to appoint agents to complete these tasks. But a state of emergency is meant to be a short term condition and I would like to keep the end game in mind, a stable representative democracy that works to protect the freedom, safety, rights, health, and wellbeing of all its citizens."

He rose and began to pace around the conference table in long slow circles. He picked up a roll of paper from the sideboard. "Fortunately, we have a document which guides our decision making." He unrolled the document and showed the group. "The constitution says that I can make treaties and I am Commander in Chief. But, I cannot levy taxes. I cannot budget and dispense money. In short, I cannot pay for my executive orders except with good faith."

He paused at the far end of the table and looked back at his empty chair. "With that in mind, I am beginning to think about what I want my legacy to be. And I know in my heart that I was not satisfied with life as we knew it before. I want an improved way of life for the United States. I want you to want it too. So much so that you will work for the promise of a good future for your children and your children's children. We will rebuild, and in doing so, we will craft a country where every citizen is able to enjoy a high quality of life. We have limited resources and much to accomplish. That means that our government and services are not going to look exactly the same as they did before. I have gathered you here today because I envision a significant role for each of you in this transition period."

As he paused to look around the room, Kara realized that Michener was sweating bullets. She wondered if he was nervous about taking command in this way. Up until this point he had allowed each of them to fulfill their duties through Chandler's command. There really hadn't been any need for him to direct them because they had all shared the same common mission, to create and distribute a cure. But now, with a contagious cure spreading across the country, the pathways forward were more open, and he might eventually come under fire for the decisions he made. She didn't envy his position one bit. "My door is always open to all of you. Lieutenant Nishioka has been serving as my Chief of Staff so get in touch with him if you need an appointment. Now…" He nodded to Chandler who began writing a list of numbers along one side of the board. "There hasn't been time to discuss these appointments individually but time is of the essence so I am going to lay out my plan, allow us to discuss, and send you forth to begin working on the tasks I will elucidate." Kara made eye contact with Danny across the table. He looked as baffled as she did. Discuss your new roles? That was certainly not the way they usually did things in the Navy.

Michener had made it to the front again and paused beside Judge Siskin. She pushed her reading glasses atop her sharply cropped steely gray hair and rose to stand beside him. "Chandler and I have discussed this at length and I have consulted with Judge Siskin on the constitutionality of my plan as well. President Ryan previously suspended the federal court system when he enacted the first declaration of federal emergency and we do not yet have the means to reinstate the courts. However, as an appellate Judge, Siskin is an expert in constitutional law and will serve as Juris de facto. We will all act to uphold the constitution. However, in cases of doubt, Judge Siskin's rulings will be taken as final and binding until a court can once again operate. That is my first executive order." He paused while Chandler added some notes on the board: Judge Lauren U. Siskin, Juris de facto.

"She has recommended that we create a federal contracts registry to record all contracts, personal, civil, and federal until such time that individual states can reinstate their legal systems. Thus, my second executive order establishes the National Registry of Contracts. Any contract formed during this time of federal emergency is subject to revocation by the state, commonwealth, or territory in which it was formed upon the re-establishment of the state legal system unless, it is recorded in the registry. This will allow us to invalidate contracts made in MCF territories. Judge Siskin will recruit staff to create and maintain the registry as well as broadcast its existence nationwide." As he spoke, Chandler wrote under the number 2: Registry of Contracts.

The President held out the paper scroll to the judge. "If you accept your part in restoring our nation, place your hand on the constitution and reaffirm your vow to uphold the ideals of our great nation, described within." In that moment Kara was somewhat awed by Michener. She had already accepted that he was an intelligent man, but she hadn't expected him to be such a brilliant political strategist. She knew he was as traumatized by recent events as the rest of them, maybe even more, but her respect for him grew stronger as she watched him remind them that they were not serving him, they were serving the ideals of their country. Her oath completed. Judge Siskin followed Michener around the table, pausing beside Senator Findley.

"Senator Findley, as our only known surviving congressperson, I hereby appoint you to acting vice president. Judge Siskin, would you please do the honors." The middle aged senator rose from his chair slowly. The story Kara had heard was that he had defied the former president's recommendation to join the safe zone at Camp David and had instead returned to North Dakota to be with his family, which so far had survived. He was probably in his mid-fifties, with a receding hairline and a bit of a paunch, but thus far he had yet to utter a single complaint other than to say he wished he could get his family to St Louis to receive the cure a little faster. A fairly conservative republican, politically he couldn't be much farther from Michener if he tried. Still, the men seemed to treat each other with much more respect than Kara expected and she would be curious to see how they navigated their differences in opinion as the reorganization progressed.

Senator Findley surprised them all when he choose to also use the constitution rather than a bible for his swearing in, which brought a glowing smile to Judge Siskin's wrinkled face. After they applauded, he echoed the President's message to view his door as open to any of the senior staff. Then he faced the president. "So boss, what's next?"

Michener smiled. "Glad you brought your enthusiasm Dennis. Your first assignment is to invite each state to send senators and representatives to the State of the Union address. We will set the date as June 15th but keep the location secret until the last minute for security reasons. As has always been the case, we cannot appoint senators or representatives, that is up to the states. But we need connection between our leadership and state's needs. So your job is to reach out to the survivors of each state and territory, identify any kind of remaining leadership, and advise them to determine how their state will proceed." A low murmur circled the room. The only state known to have any kind of functioning government was Maine, and that information was 4 weeks old already. "Slattery is going to help you put together a team for work on this, and of course, you should recruit from civilians as well."

"Now, as far as states that have been claimed by the MCF, our policy is and will remain that they are always part of the United States of America and should be included as well. We will have to assume the June 15th meeting will include spies for the MCF and pose a significant security risk to us. As you know, a large component of the constitution is a description of the military's roles, responsibilities, and the authority of the president and congress to assemble forces. After much deliberation, I have decided it would be best to bring the military under one combined command structure. Therefore as my third executive order I hereby suspend the Department of Defense as we knew it, including its corresponding structure." Another murmur of surprise echoed around the room at his pause. "There were too many holes and unknowns to operate effectively under that system, including the fact that we believe the MCF has control of a major Army facility, Fort Bliss. As we identify former and potential new leaders we will regrow our military and determine what structure makes sense for us now. In the meantime, we will go back to the the form outlined in the constitution and operate with two branches, foreign and civil defense. As Chief of the Navy, Chandler will be heading up the foreign defense branch while Commander Slattery, with his experience as a police officer, will temporarily head up the civil defense branch and seek a qualified permanent leader." Chandler's appointment was no surprise so all eyes turned to Slattery. He nodded and leaned back in his chair. Clearly he had known about this in advance as well. Kara examined Tom as he wrote up the third executive order on the board. Although he was neatly turned out in a fresh uniform, she detected tired lines around his eyes and a heaviness to his movement. They must have hashed this out late into the night. Michener asked Tom and Mike to rise. Then Judge Siskin came forward and directed them in the officer's oath.

Michener was on a roll now. "We have an urgent need to recruit and train troops able to operate here and abroad, with the necessary officer's corps as well. Thus I am charging Senior Master Chief Jeter with the immediate development of recruitment and training facilities here in St. Louis and at Fort Leonard Wood. We have a very limited budget at our disposal so my fourth executive order is that we will pay recruits with the cure, food, housing, and medical care for themselves and their immediate family. We need at least 2000 boots on the ground in 30 days time so finding retired and released soldiers and integrating them will be top priority." Kara's eyes shot to Danny's and saw he was nodding grimly. 30 days then. Something was in the works for 30 days from now and he was probably going to be part of it.

Jeter rose to stand between the Judge and the President. "I gladly accept the opportunity to serve in this or any capacity Sir." As Jeter spoke the enlisted oath in his deep and sure voice, Kara wondered what task Michener could possibly ask of her. The things she knew how to do, read the weather, make recommendations for the tactical use of weaponry, gather and present information, seemed insignificant compared to the scale of the tasks Michener was handing out. Perhaps he would wrap up the rest by telling them who they were assigned to work with. Her palms began to sweat.

However, after Jeter sat, the president turned toward Kara. "Lieutenant Foster." She pushed back her chair and stepped up to the head of the table, pulling her jacket closed around Flutter as she went. She had naturally assumed she would continue to support Chandler, so she was surprised that the president called on her.

"We need someone located here, in Saint Louis to act as the liaison, a coordinator of sorts, between myself and the military leadership. That person needs to have tact, discretion, and poise, and they also need to possess an analytical mind and strong will. You have all of those attributes and more. Captain Chandler and I have discussed your situation at great length. He says you a fine officer and more than capable of handling yourself in the field as well. But you also are entering a time of life where traveling the world is not the best for you personally. When we take these things into consideration, it makes sense to me to nominate you to this position." She was floored. She had the utmost respect for Michener but this was a job for someone with significantly more experience than her. Her eyes shot to Danny. His jaw was clenched but his eyes implored her to take it. She wondered what he already knew.

Michener gave her a fatherly smile. "Perhaps it would help if I described what Lieutenant Green will be doing?" She nodded mutely.

Chandler took over for Michener. "Lieutenants Green and Burk will be fulfilling a multipart role. Officially, they will be assisting Jeter with the training of new troops. However, unofficially, they will begin planning a mission to infiltrate and disrupt the MCF's operations. When congress convenes in June, we intend for all 50 states to be represented." Danny's eyes met Kara's across the table. They had known from the very start that their time serving on the Nathan James together was a fluke. And to be honest, this was a better situation than they might have anticipated. She swallowed hard and considered her options. She wanted to help, as much as she could, and this position could be a good fit for her in the long run. She met Chandler's eyes and saw that he too wanted her to accept. She took a deep breath and turned toward the president. "Yes,, I will do it." and Judge Siskin waved the three of them forward.

Chandler held up a hand. "Just a minute." He lowered his hand palm up in front of Danny and she wondered what he was doing. Danny gave her an crooked smile as he dug in his breast pocket. There was a clinking of metal and even Burk looked at him questioningly. Then he produced two tacks, each pinned through a piece of cardboard, and placed them in the Captain's hand. Chandler pursed his lips and lowered one brow in question.

Danny turned toward Kara. "I still didn't know which one you'd really want, so I brought them both. You know either one of them would be proud to have you wear theirs."

Chandler held his hand out toward Kara. "The position comes with a promotion. Do you accept?" Her eyes flew to his. There was a hint of a smile behind his firm set lips. She reached out, her hand trembling and picked them up. One was labeled Vince. One wasn't labeled, but she knew that until last night it had been pinned to a poll of fabric in her sock drawer. Objects might not be cursed, but she wasn't sure she could walk around with the weight of those memories on her collar all day long. She handed Vince's to Tom and placed the other back in Danny's hand. He nodded, put it in his pocket, and then patted it like he was keeping it safe, right over his heart.

She took off her bars and looked at them shining in her palm for a second. One of her earliest memories was helping her dad get ready for a 4th of July parade when she was about 3. She'd accidentally dropped the pin on the cracked tile floor of the farmhouse bathroom and put a tiny dent in the corner. Both of her big brothers, resplendent in their boyscout uniforms, had teased her and said her father would have to retire and become a farmer again because she'd dented his pin. But her father, who she realized now had always had the ability to see through all the chaos to what really mattered, had shrugged and told her he'd say he was wearing it in honor of someone important. That's what they'd always been to her. In contrast to the oak leaves, that felt weighted with sadness, these bars had been something joyful. She looked at her hand again. "I'm still not ready to put these in a box yet." She met Danny's eyes. "Would you wear them for me, in honor of someone important?" He nodded and she handed them over, watching him replace the ones he usually wore. Satisfied, she nodded to Chandler. She could do this. She would do this.


	2. Chapter 2 - My Man and I

My cousin and I have the same wedding anniversary. She announced last night that she and her husband (They are wicked good fun as a couple.) are taking a Caribbean vacation without their kids to celebrate their 20th which got me thinking about my wedding and anniversary. I'll never forget when the limo driver called to apologize for being late and I told him it was ok, no worries. He asked me if I should tell the bride in case she was going to freak out and I assured him that the wedding couldn't start without me. The bar told us we were the first wedding they had ever had that didn't drink the whole tab but the photographer told us we were one of the most fun groups he'd ever worked with. We didn't really get to eat the meal or the cake, but the next day my husband and I ate cake in bed for breakfast and I swear it was the best cake I'd ever eaten. (I still dream about that styrofoam container full of cake.) In the many, many years since that day I have mellowed quite a bit because after all, the wedding wasn't really the point. I'm getting better at looking at the long game first because every time I do, I end up enjoying life just a little but more. At this rate I should spend my old age positively glowing!

**My Man and I, Sister Rosetta Tharpe**

After the meeting broke up, Chandler asked Kara, Danny, Burk, and Slattery to join him upstairs. When they arrived, Commander Garnett and Lieutenant Granderson were waiting in the outer office. Chandler opened the door to the inner office. "You can use my office. Take all the time you need." She looked questioningly at Danny but he just motioned for her to enter before him. She realized he really did know something that he wasn't telling her. When Danny took her hand and led her to one of the chairs in front of Chandler's desk she realized that his palms were clammy and he wasn't looking her in the eyes. Her stomach began to roll. This couldn't be good. She tried to think of anything that had happened recently to make him angry with her or vice versa. Had he done something she should know about?

He sat her down and then crouched on his toes in front of her. "uhm, so, uhm." She hadn't seen him this nervous since he'd asked her to cut his hair the first time. Which, she noticed it resting on his collar, could use it again. He sandwiched her hands between his and lowered his head a moment, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders to begin. Why were Alisha and Andrea here? Her mind jumped to terrible conclusions. Was he going to tell her something was wrong with the baby? Was it not immune after all? Her pulse was gushing loudly in her ears. "You know how we planned to wait for your mom to get here before we got married?" Oh God, it was her mom. He was going to tell her mother was dead, wasn't he. Just because she had the vaccine didn't mean she was safe from everything else that could happen. Kara was glad she was sitting as she began to feel faint.

He gently lifted her chin and looked her in the eye. "No, no, it's nothing like that. I didn't mean to scare you. As far as we know she's fine. It's not bad news. Well, not when it comes to what really matters." She looked into his bright eyes and saw that he meant it. Her pulse slowed a bit again. He wouldn't lie to her but he was worried about something.

"Ok" She took a calming breath herself. "Just tell me."

"Well, you heard what Michener said about the MCF and citizenship right?" She nodded. He'd said that Hidalgo's government was distributing a message to inform all citizens in MCF territories that they are now citizens of the Mexicali Federation and as such are not subject to the laws or taxes of the United States or Mexico. On top of that, former federal employees which included the military, should not resume their old jobs but instead should report to their work site for further instructions. "and technically, you own that farm in Kansas and your official address is still in Kansas." Yes, yes it…

"Oh my God! They'll label me a traitor!" She stood up and began to pace. "I can't take this position. It's too public. Does Michener know? I need to go talk to Chandler and.."

He grasped her arm and pulled her back into the seat. "Wait. There's more that you need to know."

"More?" Her heart beat accelerated again. "Oh but my mom is OK. She had to change her address to get an ID in Virginia. What does she have to do with this?"

"They won't just label you a traitor. They are distributing an order to shoot all MCF citizens acting in an official capacity on behalf of the US or Mexico on sight if they are from MCF territory. Michener is interpreting that to mean elected and appointed officials as well as officers." He implored her to listen with his eyes. "What your mom has to do with it is this. He came to me this morning and asked if I would consider marrying you today. My address is officially Virginia Beach and it will keep you off their target list." She sat back stunned.

"The president of the United States asked us to get married sooner? What did you say?" The intensity of her shocked stare kind of scared him. He knew this was an emotionally charged issue, and he had a feeling his answer to this might determine whether she went along with it or not. It infuriated him that the MCF could consider her a target and if he had to drag her kicking and screaming, he was going to get her off that list, today.

"He wanted to put you on the spot, do it downstairs immediately after the meeting but I told him no, that was no way to officially begin our life together."

"Uh huh, sooooo" She was the wary one now. Glad he hadn't just agreed and made it impossible for her to say no, at least without embarrassing themselves publicly, she wondered why he hadn't agreed. "Are you having cold feet or something." She stared down at her hands and bit her lip. She didn't care about the wedding, she just wanted to be married to him. But maybe he was only doing it to not look like a jerk for knocking her up in the first place?

He took the chair next to her. "No, I just, I don't want you to miss out on something you were looking forward to."

She couldn't help it, she threw her head back and laughed in relief. In the outer office she heard someone say "I hope that's a good sign."

"Danial Joshua Green, what about me has ever made you think I would be looking forward to getting up in front of a bunch of people in a useless dress, while looking like a cow mind you, to make a contract that I really only need to make with you in the first place."

"You're a girl?" He offered with an apologetic shrug.

She rose and strode purposefully to the door. "You better hope this baby is a boy or you are so doomed." she called over her shoulder as she grasped the door handle.

"Where are you going?" He jumped to his feet to follow. She hadn't looked too angry but then again, her emotions were all over the place these days.

"To get married. Are you coming or do I have to recruit a new fiance?"

In the end, Judge Siskin married them on the courthouse steps at sunset. They wore their dress blues and Alisha and Carlton stood up with them. Afterward they accepted hugs from everyone and a standing ovation when they arrived at the dining room of the Radisson, which had been decorated for the festive occasion.

It was just some pot roast and salad but the meal was far more fun than usual owing to the fact that people just couldn't stop clinking their glasses with their forks to get them to kiss. Kara happily obliged but when Alisha and Andrea Garnett tried to convince them they should have a first dance she passed. "Honestly, my feet are killing me and Bacon texted me about cake this afternoon. Can we just skip to the cake?"

Andrea nodded and headed off to the kitchen to find out if it was ready.

"Nothing comes between a pregnant woman and her cake." Danny leaned back in his chair, accurately anticipating the less than gentle slug he promptly received to his arm. Eyes twinkling he leaned forward and whispered in Kara's ear. "Actually, if you are go for extraction, I have a plan."

She nodded and her grin slowly widened as he proceeded to fill her in. As soon as they cut the cake and slices were being passed around she slumped in a chair in the corner. "Bring me my cake here. I am too tired to move a muscle." A few minutes later she was pretending to be asleep.

She overheard Danny talking to Bacon. "Do you think you could pack up some cake. We've lost her for the night. She would sleep 20 hours a day right now if she could."

Garnett commiserated. "Sorry about your wedding night Green but kids, well, they are known for ruining plans."

Kara had to fight hard to keep her breathing even and not giggle when he replied. "That's what I've heard from pretty much everyone."

"Locks." Garnett sounded very strident. "You'll need sturdy locks or you will never have a chance at adult times again."

Kara couldn't risk opening her eyes but it sounded like Doc Rios who was snorting with laughter.

"I guess it's time I shuffled her off to bed." Danny shook her shoulder and it was time to try out her acting skills. "Wake up sleepyhead." She knew better than to make eye contact when she opened her eyes or they would both crack up, ruining the plan.

"Oh no, did I miss.." she stretched her arms over her head in an exaggerated yawn. "my cake?"

He held up a styrofoam takeout container. "Bacon saved you a piece. Come on you look exhausted."

She waved goodnight to the rest of the people still eating and turned to Garnett. "Am I ever going to get my energy back?"

Andrea shrugged. "It could be anywhere between tomorrow and 20 years from now. Depends on the kid."

She dragged her feet toward the elevator as if her legs were too heavy to lift. "Why the heck did I let you do this to me? I swear we are never doing this again."

The elevator door shut as Danny whispered in her ear "Because you begged me. Want another demonstration?"


	3. Chapter 3 - Maple Leaf Rag

Sorry for the long delay. I've been on a much needed vacation. I missed the last three episodes so I had to quarantine myself from all things The Last Ship until I could catch up.

 ****Maple Leaf Rag, Scott Joplin****

"Commander Green. Commander Green." Someone was knocking at the door and Halsey was nosing him under the blankets.

Kara moaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Make them go away. I need at least three more hours."

Danny skimmed a hand over her firm hip. "Why do I have to get up? Someone of seemingly endless energy tired me out last night."

She huffed. "They're calling for Green, that's you not me. Besides, I'm busy gestating right now."

He sighed and stuck his feet out, rooting around for the pajama bottoms that were somewhere on the floor. Finding them he slid his legs in. "Alright, alright. Stop pounding. You'll wake up the whole floor." Outside the window he could see that the sun was just slipping up over the horizon.

He glanced over his shoulder to be sure the dog was at the door to the bedroom before peeking out the peephole. Although Slattery had posted guards in the lobbies, the hotels being used for barracks were still less secure than ideal. An enlisted man with the nametag Lester waited with an envelope in his hand.

"Yes?" He opened the door and leaned against the frame, giving what he hoped was an intimidating glare.

"Uh, yes, sorry to wake you sir. It appears I have the wrong room." Suspicion immediately snaked up Danny's spine. It was a classic fishing tactic after all, one he had used to get additional information many times. He glanced down at the envelope but it didn't have a name on it.

He leaned a little further into the hall forcing the young man to take a half step back from the door. "Who are you looking for then. I know most everyone on this floor."

"Captain Chandler sent me to give this message to a Commander Green only."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm Green."

"Ah" The sailor swallowed nervously and eyeing Danny's SpongeBob pants, placing his hand on the holster at his hip. "Is there another Green?"

Danny tilted his head to the side, confused for a moment. "No I'm Green. Hand it over so I can get back to bed." But as he said it he finally realized who the kid wanted.

The kid's eyes widened and he gulped. "Commander Green is a woman. Who are you and what have you done with her?" He demanded.

The bark of laughter was out before he could stop it. Danny just couldn't help it Was this going to be their life now? Now that they weren't in the same chain of command they weren't going to know the same people after all. Perhaps it would be best if she decided to keep her name. He jumped when a small hand rested on his back and a small form squeezed between him in the door frame. "I'm Commander Green." She announced, holding out a hand to the sailor.

Danny had to give the kid credit for keeping it together in the face of the matching SpongeBob nightie, a wedding gift from Alisha. He eyed the two of them, and then asked. "I'm sorry Ma'am. Would you mind showing me some ID? My orders from Chandler are to only give this to Commander Kara Green."

"Yeah sure, come in." Danny would have told the kid to wait, closed the door in his face and then gotten dressed, leisurely, before accepting the envelope. But he had to admit, the fact that Kara was being far kinder than he was seemed sort of sweet. The kid crossed the threshold, taking in the small suite. Their flowers from the night before were tossed on the counter of the small kitchenette. The box of cake was waiting on the table. Kara's sparkley headband thing, which had taken twice as long to get her out of than the rest of her entire uniform was tossed on the small couch and his jacket was carelessly thrown over the TV. A trail of shoes, covers, shirts and other clothing led to the bedroom. After his sweep of the room, the sailor studied the view out the window with a determined focus, a tell-tale blush staining his cheeks. Kara disappeared through the door to their bedroom but when he tried to follow she pointed back the way he came. "Offer him a drink or something. I'll be out in a minute."

"Uh, you want anything?" Danny asked awkwardly. This was essentially the first visitor to their private space and clearly they needed to clean up their act. He began bending and scooping up items, bringing them into the room behind him. In the bathroom he heard water splashing.

"I'm good. I just had breakfast." The kid studied the ceiling some more.

"I'm sorry." Danny gestured to the mess. "We weren't expecting to be disturbed this morning."

Finally, she rushed out and saved him from having to make any more small talk. "Here." She thrust her CAC at the kid and he examined it, looking up to check her face and then check the photo again. "It says Lieutenant Foster. What's going on here?" As she waited for him to make up his mind Kara began sweeping her hair back into a ponytail and then twisting it at the nape of her neck. Gone was the warm and relaxed beauty he had woken next to this morning and in her place was emerging the serious, hard as rocks woman who ruled in the CIC.

His irritation at the interruption to his morning plans mounting, Danny waved the sparkley headband in the kid's face. "Have you seen any one with a card printer lately? Lieutenant Foster became Commander Foster just yesterday morning. And we were also just married yesterday, hence the surprise at being woken at zero dark thirty today."

The young man glanced between the ID and the woman before him one more time while she held out her hand. Finally, the young man handed her card back along with the envelope. "Very well. I was instructed to wait and escort you to the meeting, Ma'am."

Kara exchanged a glance with Danny. She was as surprised as he was. She hastily opened the envelope. Danny watched as her hazel eyes skimmed the note inside. "Chandler apologizes for the interruption but he's calling a meeting at the courthouse and I suspect.." There was a knock at the door. "You'll be summoned any minute too."

Danny sighed. So much for his plan of a leisurely morning reminding his wife of how she got in such a delightfully rounded shape in the first place. To add insult to injury, his stomach was growling loudly. He swung open the door to find another young man waiting, envelope in hand. "Lieutenant Green?" The ensign asked.

This time there was less confusion and in ten minutes he was on his way to the courthouse as well. It was only a short walk across the street and they debated what the urgency could be about. "I assume something has happened to prompt such an interruption." Kara observed.

"No doubt. My note came direct from Slattery. He, Burk, and I were supposed to meet this afternoon to plan a trip to Chicago." They paused at the edge of the lawn to wait while Halsey did his business and Danny scooped it with a plastic bag. "I wonder if this has something to do with that."

They arrived at the building a few minutes later and Danny patiently followed Kara up the stairs to Chandler's office. Her swaying hips once again reminding him of his spoiled plans for the morning.

"Ah good, the Greens are here." Chandler ushered them in where Slattery and Wolf were waiting and dismissed the messengers. Halsey flopped down to the carpet in front of the hallway door.

"I'd prefer Foster-Green Sir." Kara corrected Chandler as she crossed to her desk and pulled out a food box. "There will be less confusion that way." They hadn't even gotten to talking about names but Danny wasn't surprised. To be honest, he'd half expected her to stick with Foster.

"That OK with you?" Tom was eying Danny to see his reaction. Even though Darien had taken her husband's name, he was a bit surprised that Tom was asking him for confirmation. For goodness sakes, even his father's last wife had kept her own name and she was sixty.

"Ah," He glanced at Kara and saw she was also watching him carefully as she opened the cardboard box in her hand. "I am happy to share my name in whatever way you'd like. But I think I'll stick with plain Green myself. Like you said, less confusion that way." She smiled softly and he knew he'd said the right thing.

Chandler accepted that with a nod and ushered them into the small conference table. "Well, it was my intention to at least give you two until noon, but unfortunately, this couldn't wait." Slattery was reading a document while Wolf sat slouched in his seat, ankles crossed in front of him, eyes closed, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sir, what's this about?" Danny asked as he ripped into the wrapper of the granola bar Kara had handed him as she came to the table.

Chandler shut the outer door and joined them. "The President received our first official diplomatic communique early this morning, from Canada."

Slattery looked suspicious but Wolf smiled and sat up straighter. "That's great news. Does that mean they have fared better than we thought? Did they have any new about the rest of the commonwealth?"

"No news. But I learned that apparently if member nations suspend their parliament they fall back under the purview of the crown." Chandler spoke directly to Wolf. "Does this sound correct?"

Wolf mussed his hair with one hand and then laid it on the table. "I suppose so, although I admit I was never a great student in history."

"Had you heard anything about what happened to the monarchy during the early days of the Red Flu?" Slattery asked Wolf.

"Uh, what I recall is that the Queen refused to go into hiding saying she was still the leader in good times and bad. She did however scatter the heirs in the hopes there would be survivors. Charles and Camilla supposedly holed up in some remote Scottish place. Wills and Kate were rumored to be in New Zealand, and Prince Harry at Canadian Forces Base Suffield near Medicine Hat, where he had trained before. But, I haven't heard any credible news from anywhere outside the US since maybe August."

Slattery smoothed the paper he was reading out on the table. "It says here that the British crown has survived in Canada. In the absence of a government they have assumed the role of monarch in Ottawa and are attempting to reconvene a parliament as soon as possible. They want to formally accept the cure on behalf of the entire Commonwealth as soon as possible so that they can also work on spreading it." Mike raised his eyes to Chandler, who was still standing by the window looking out at St. Louis. "I think Green, Burk, and I can work that into our itinerary for the midwest trip, if they are willing to meet us in Windsor, rather than Ottawa."

Tom turned gave a curt nod. "I agree. Except, it's more complicated than that. Michener already asked me to inform you that he wants to meet with them himself." He finally sat, leaning over the creased paper with a sigh.

The second Kara stood to read the letter over Slattery's shoulder Danny sensed she was about to go on the offensive. Looking up from under her brows she addressed Chandler. "Sir, Michener is not ready for that. He's not prepared to be put in that kind of danger."

Chandler frowned. "I agree. But he's the boss. If he wants to go on the trip he gets to go on the trip."

It was unlike Kara to be so aggressive in questioning Chandler. But Danny also recognized that they had been asked to this meeting because Tom trusted them to be straight with him so he asked "What is his goal here? It has to be clear to him that this isn't some joyride." He didn't have the manpower to put together a special team just to escort the president. They already had to cart around a troupe of civilians as it was and they hd no idea how far the Immunes had spread.

Tom tapped the table with his finger. "I think he wants to go in person because what he really wants is to invite Canada to an alliance in opposition to the MCF."

Slattery dropped the letter on the table and Danny picked it up to read for himself. The language was exceedingly formal and filled with royal we's but overall the message was to the point. And there wasn't a singe mention of the MCF, or the Immunes for that matter.

Mike leaned in. "This is the kind of thing for a Secretary of State to do. Michener shouldn't be going himself. I mean, come on Tom. Ou kow as well as I do that Prince Harry or King Harry, or whoever sent this letter isn't going to meet in person either."

Wolf had been silently observing the discussion but now he sat up straighter and motioned to Mike to hand over the letter. He quickly skimmed to the end. "The Governor General sent it. That's sort of like the crown's official representative in a country."

Kara was pacing. One arm wrapped around her midsection and cupping one elbow with the other hand as she ticked off details. "You were planning a five day trip to Chicago, correct?" She looked to Danny.

"Give or take. That gives us time to make connections for Michener's Civilian Health Corps in the major cities along the route and establish communications with Great Lakes." Danny watched as Kara tapped her chin. He was sure she was cooking up a plan in that head of hers to satisfy the President's request but he really thought it was a terrible idea to drag the President all over the midwest with barely enough security to lock down a McDonalds. "We could try to secure an airfield on the border and then fly him in." He suggested.

Slattery frowned. "Can't you convince him that he needs a diplomat Tom? Someone a little more...I don't know, expendable?"

Wolf stroked his bearded chin with his thumb and forefinger. "You know, as places go, Canada is a good starter country for re-establishing diplomatic relations. What if we take him and then let him come to his own conclusion about the wisdom of making these trips himself?" He swung his gaze from Tom to Danny. "He has started establishing a domestic presence but it's true that he needs a foreign presence as well. The world can't afford more Ruskovs. We're still going to need to lay it on pretty hard so this doesn't become a regular thing. But perhaps we get this out of his system and then he hires someone else to stick their neck out for him."

Tom cocked his head as he considered the idea. Mike nodded. Kara turned, mid pace, her shoulders bent in defeat. "That's probably exactly what we should do. Plus, the kind of people that he should recruit will come out of the woodwork in these cities. It is dangerous for him, no question, but maybe it needs to happen." Tom frowned and lowered his chin as he thought.

After a moment he gave Kara a subtle nod. "Very well. Let's figure out how to do this right." Kara pulled a map to the center of the table and they set about planning strategy.

As she leaned over the table Danny caught a wiff of her pomegranate shampoo. He had to admit that she was quite impressive in this mode. He wanted to argue that it was too dangerous, no matter what, but he saw the wisdom in Wolf's suggestion. "Burk and I can pre-scout the route to Chicago, and then once we make some connections there we can leapfrog forward to Detroit and so on." Danny volunteered. "Both Chicago and Detroit already had some places I'd be nervous taking the President before the outbreak. We'll want full manpower while in the cities."

An hour later they had a map with a route traced in red, a rough itinerary, and dates for the trip. "So we are agreed. Green and Burk will scout as far as Chicago and set up a secure reception for the President at Great Lakes. Then while the group works in Chicago they will scout forward and secure the meeting place on the border." Kara reviewed the plan and everyone agreed. "I'll coordinate with Nishioka on the President's needs. Wolf, you will arrange vehicles and equipment. Mike, you'll get Tex set up to accompany as the President's personal security." Tom was sitting back letting Kara lead and she was masterful. Other than the fact that he would be leaving her and Flutter for nearly three weeks, this was shaping up to be the first assignment Danny was looking forward to since the Russians had first appeared on the horizon back in September.

As they exited the room. He snagged Kara's hand and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "Commander, a word in private with you." He nodded toward a dark hallway that branched off to the side.

She twisted her hand out of his. "Lieutenant! Holding hands in uniform is strictly prohibited." but he recognized the twinkle in her eye and he ignored her protest to pull her down the narrow hallway anyways.

He sandwiched her against the wall and enjoyed the delicate shiver he felt where their bodies pressed together. It was funny feeling her firm little belly but it made him feel like they were hugging the baby between them. The thought made him smile.

"You can't smile at me like that right now." she was grinning too as he pulled her to her tiptoes and captured her lips for a searing kiss. Her lips opened easily under his, despite her token resistance. The adrenaline of the morning and the feel of her pressed against him was a heady combination. Damn, he wished they were back in their room.

"Why not? I was already planning to tell you that you were magnificent this morning, but my plans didn't involve a long meeting with the CNO."

"Yeah, that wasn't in my vision of an ideal honeymoon either." She sighed and leaned her head against his collarbone. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Danny tipped her face up and kissed her brow. "It's not your fault."

Kara shook her head and her voice was a little muffled against his neck. "My suggestions just doubled the length of this trip. I don't want you to think I'm happy about sending you away."

He snorted. "I know you're not. I saw your face as you said it." Her reluctance to admit that Wolf's idea was a good one had been obvious. He thought back to the boat trip they had taken last May. "Next chance we get we'll get away for a few days again. Maybe it won't happen for a while but I promise not to cheat you out of a honeymoon in the long run."

Her head jerked up. "I am a realist. It's OK." She held the side of his face and kissed him. He loved it when she did that. It made him feel so precious and so lucky to have found her.

He leaned in a little closer and kissed the end of her nose. "Nothing in this relationship has been the way I'd hoped since we got off that boat but it's ok. We just have to go with the flow."

She sighed and lowered her hand to the small swell of her middle. "I know. But, I'd thought to at least give you some chance to voice an opinion. I'm so, so sorry Danny." she leaned her head in to rest on his collar bone again and melted into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, hoping it soothed her.

"You know I'm thrilled about the baby, right?" he held his breath, had she been worrying all this time if he was unhappy about it? "I would have wanted you to have more say in the matter too. But believe me when I say, I am really excited about it."

She lifted her face and he saw the hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. "I know you are." When a loud rumble sounded from her stomach and she burst out laughing. "Come on." She grabbed his wrist and glanced at his watch. "1030. I could set my watch by this kid's appetite. Let's go pick up some food and hide in our rooms until our next appointments!"


	4. Chapter 4 - We Can't Go On This Way

**We Can't Go On This Way, J.B. Lenoir**

The day after the impromptu wedding was cold and blustery. Kat woke early but laid in her bed a long time wool gathering and feeling the post climactic melancholy that comes after a busy event. It was still dark out but the sky was just beginning to lighten. Giving up on sleeping she checked the clock. 5:40 AM. If she hurried she supposed she could join her dad for his jog. She rolled out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom. Through the door that connected to her dad's room she heard music playing. On impulse, she stopped and knocked the way he used to when she was little, shave and a haircut, two bits. "Up and at 'em old man." She called out.

"Ha! I am almost ready to go. Better hurry girly." Came the response.

One look in the mirror told her that she had dark circles under her eyes from not removing her make-up the night before. She quickly brushed her teeth, scrubbed her face and brushed her hair into a ponytail. She hardly had any clothes to pick from so the best she could do were some long leggings, an old Army sweatshirt of her father's, and her hat and mittens. She tucked her keycard into her sock and headed out.

"I thought you said you weren't a morning person?" Her dad circled her shoulders with his arm and led her toward the stairs. It was strange, being hugged by him after all these years. But just like when she was a kid she loved the warm feel of him. Even though she knew he could be ruthlessly violent if it was called for, just being around him made her feel safer than she had since the Red Flu had broken out. It didn't hurt that she was pretty sure he was carrying some kind of handgun strapped to his hip.

"Aw come on, it's too early for stairs." She teased as they pushed through the fire door into the utilitarian hotel stairs.

She could hear footsteps coming down from above and a wide grin split her face when she heard the familiar accent of Bertrise "Well now, we're heading out to exercise, are we not? We cannot be taking the elevator on the way to a workout."

"Bertrise I didn't know you liked to run?" Kat waited on the landing and then joined her newly formed friend to trot down the stairs.

"I don't." The other young woman was securing her braids in a pouffy bun. "But Doc Rios tells me that if I want to become a hospital corpsman I will have to pass the same physical requirements as everyone else. So here I am." They chatted as they followed Tex out to join a gathering group in the green under the arch. The sailors from the ship had been holding PT three times a day for anyone who wished to join. Tex said Chandler considered it free advertisement. This was the first time Kat had attended and she was awed at how many people were there. She recognized many faces wearing gray Nathan James sweatsuits but there were also many civilians. Some of them looked out of shape or were too old to join the Navy while many others looked like they had previous military service or experience with fitness. Bertrise headed toward a group of young people lingering by the fountain.

"Go ahead, Go ahead." Her dad waved her off as he stopped near Commanders Slattery and Garnett. "Your old Dad doesn't want to crimp your style. Besides, we'll be in the slow group."

"Speak for yourself Chuck Wagon." Andrea smiled. "I might be short but I'm light on my feet."

Kat left her father joking with the older set and followed Bertrise to the the fountain. The two girls began to stretch and Bertrise attempted to describe to Kat the workouts she had been doing. Kat had just put her leg up on the edge of the stone rim when she heard a low whistle. "Sorry guys. I'll be jogging slow today. I don't care what the other side of that chick looks like because I'll be following that ass." She whirled around and saw three teen boys stretching about 15 feet away. Giving the one who appeared to be the ringleader her best evil eye, she resolved to ignore him and his laughing friends. Too bad too because he was hot in exactly the way she liked. Not too tall or physically intimidating, he had dark hair that fell over his forehead, deep brown eyes, and a shadow of scruff on his chin. He was wearing a nylon jacket and black sweatpants so she couldn't see if he had a nice body but he had the confident stance of someone who knew how to take care of themselves.

A tough looking guy everyone called Cruz called them to order and asked them to spread out for some warm up moves. After that he led them through some sit ups and pushups, jumpies, and lunges. There was a lot of moaning and groaning from the group of teens behind her and Bertrise as well. It had been a while, but Kat felt her muscles warming to the exercise and by the time they headed out for a jogging loop she was raring to go. She used to jog to keep in shape for horseback riding but she hadn't been able to do that for months. Fortunately, in such a large group the pace was slow. The breaths of the people in front rose like the plumage of fancy hats and she saw her father up ahead, easily trotting along. Slow group her ass. She knew he might not look like much, but he was pretty fit for a man his age.

She was glad they were going as a big group. After Cruz made a few twists and turns they were running through a nice neighborhood with well kept older homes. Very few had red X's on the doors. She'd seen that in a few other towns along the route from Jackson to St. Louis. These people hadn't died at home. They'd had health insurance and gone to the hospitals. She'd guess that a year ago it had been one of the safest places in town. Now she was glad to be surrounded by people because without the noise of chatting runners, even the nicest neighborhoods took on a sort of sinister feel. Once they started weaving in and out of the blocks she lost all sense of direction and was doubly glad not to be alone. She settled into the middle of the pack, spacing out to the sounds of their feet patting the pavement and the feel of the crisp morning air rushing in and out of her lungs.

She recognized several of the faces near the front. Lieutenant Burk was prodding a group of young guys to sprint from the back to the front in some kind of place switching game. The longer they ran, the more spread out the front became from the back. She saw a tall thin man with light blond hair go by and noticed that Bertrise followed him with her eyes until he was too far toward the front to be seen. Behind her the teens had stopped talking except for an occasional encouraging word from their leader. She had a feeling it was the cute guy with the big mouth doing the cheering to keep the younger kids going. She heard Burk tell one of his men to stop and walk the rest of the way with a group from the back and the number of footsteps dropped dramatically leaving her near the slow end.

After twenty more minutes, the lead group, including Bertrise who had been slowly building her endurance since she donated blood to create the cure, had taken off by themselves. She felt herself beginning to tire. She was pretty sure they were heading back, but all the houses were beginning to look the same and she couldn't remember if they had passed this way before. She didn't dare stop as she had a terrible sense of direction but she began to slow when a cramp speared through her side. She trudged along, the stitch in her side stealing all her focus. Tomorrow she was getting a map ahead of time. She puffed on in agony for a few more blocks before finally admitting defeat and calling out to Burk on his next sprint from the back to the front "If I stopped now could you…tell me…how to find my way..back?"

He answered her with a question. "You don't think you can make it? It's only a few blocks from here." Too much out of breath from her first question she just shook her head no, hoping he'd tell her there was a shortcut or something. Instead, she saw him surveying the remaining runners in the group. "Mr. Diaz!" he shouted, startlingly loud and clear to her ears given that she barely had enough breath to make herself audible. She immediately saw a dark head detach itself from the group and head back their way. It was the rude big mouth from before.

She swore internally. "Oh, don't make someone else stop. I can find it if you point me in the right direction."

But it was too late. "Sir?" The kid jogged backwards in front of where she was shuffling along.

"Stop here." She stopped, and then immediately bent over to suck huge gasps of air into her abused lungs. "Mr. Diaz, can you find your way back from here?" Burk jogged in place as he waited for an answer.

"Sure, of course, uh, Sir." Ray glanced at her and back at Burk.

"You armed?" The kid patted his pocket. "Good. Ms. Nolan, it's too dangerous for me to send you alone. Ray here can handle himself and make sure you get back to the Radisson safely." Burk began jogging away to catch the rest of the group. "Get her back and then meet the rest of us in the mess."

"Yes Sir." If it was possible, the little popinjay puffed his chest out even farther than before. Kat's breathing began to slow and she started walking to keep her muscles from cramping. Her cheeks stung with embarrassment that Burk had given her a babysitter. It was even worse that it was the young man who had been making comments about her earlier. She had made her way alone from Jackson to Memphis for crying out loud.

"I can make it myself Mr. Diaz. Really, just tell me the way then you can go back to your workout."

He just ignored her with a smug smile. "It's Ray, by the way. And Burk ordered me to see you back so that's what I am going to do. What's your name?"

"Arggg. What Lieutenant Burk told you was to see that I get back there safely." She began walking in the direction Burk had gone and he was forced to follow. "All I need are directions and I will be fine." Now that she had stopped and didn't feel the cramp anymore she thought she could probably run again. If only she had pushed through it, she'd still be with the group now.

Ray caught up and started walking backwards in front of her. "I should probably mention Ms. No-Name that the shortest way back is back the way we came. Even a safe looking area can still have scavengers and lunatics about." He patted the pocket that presumably contained a firearm again. "But don't worry, if I had too I'm sure I could shoot a man for you."

"I can shoot my own bad guys, thank you very much." She spun on the ball of her foot with an annoyed huff and started back the other way.

"It would help if you told me your name." He was right there by her side again.

"It's Nolan." She hoped he recognized it. Her dad was the softest, goofiest guy she knew but it hadn't escaped her notice that the crew of the Nathan James was well aware that he was also deadly.

"Nolan? That's an odd name for a girl, isn't it?" He gestured to the left with one hand and she followed the sidewalk around the corner.

"You don't need my name to show me the way back to the hotel." She could see the highway overpass at the end of the street and felt a moment's annoyance. She probably could have found her was back with a simple direction to go down a side street.

"Yeah, but I need you name to ask you to join me for breakfast afterwards."

She choked on a guffaw. "You can ask all you want but I have no plans to break bread with you, now or ever."

"Oh come on and cut me some slack. It's practically the end of the world and you're the first girl I've talked to who isn't depending on me for a meal ticket in close to seven months now!" Ray pleaded. "I am a nice guy. I'm sorry I offended you by commenting on your ass Kat but surely you know you are…"

She whirled around to face him so fast that he almost crashed into her. "How do you know my name?" She stomped her foot. "I'm not moving another inch until you tell me how you know my name."

He rolled his eyes. "Chill out chica. Your father pointed you out to me last night when he was bringing us down to the wedding dinner. He is so happy he found you that he can't stop talking about you all day and night." It was nice to hear that her dad was so excited to finally be together but really, telling Ray?

"Well I don't care what my father said or didn't say about me. I am not interested in boys so you can just take me right back out of whatever disgusting place you've filed me in your filthy Neanderthal brain. After we get back to base you can forget I even exist. That's what I'll be doing with you." For a few moments all she could hear was the sound of her feet stomping against the concrete walk as she huffed away and Ray's nylon jacket swishing along behind her.

Before the Red Flu she'd had a boyfriend but once the flu hit she'd found out exactly what he thought of her. "You don't want to die a virgin, do you?" he'd sneered. When she'd insisted that she wasn't planning on dying anytime soon he'd turned nasty. "Fine, there are a million other girls who will be willing to let me have a try." The last time she'd passed his family home there had been four X's across the front door so she guessed sharing body fluids hadn't worked out too well for him.

She shivered at the thought of Ray's eyes staring at her behind as he followed her. Gah, boys were such a pain in the neck. She stopped marching and waited for him level up with her. As he reached her side she realized for the first time that he was nearly a head taller than her. Neither of her parents were tall but this was one of those moments when she really wished she hadn't inherited her mother's short stature. She would have liked to be able to stare down her nose at him. "Look, let me spell it out for you. I'm not interested now. I won't be interested next week. And I won't be interested next year. So just tell me where to go and then you can stop staring at my ass and be on your way."

"Here's what you don't understand Missy." He leaned over her and she realized that his eyes were flashing in anger. "If Burk tells me to stay with you, then I stay with you. Heck, if he tells me to shoot you, then I shoot you." He grabbed her hand and began tugging her down the sidewalk. "You think I want to spend my morning babysitting some primadonna? Of course I don't. I have 13 mouths to feed and I need Chandler to keep me on so I'll be damned if I'm going to let you screw this up for me. And for the record, I was not staring at your ass. Up close I've realized you're not my type."

Kat twisted her hand out of his. Her satisfaction died when her fingers immediately felt cold. "Hrmph." But she kept pace with his longer steps. They reached the end of the block and turned to the left again. Her calves burned now and she wanted to slow down but she also wanted to get away from the insufferable jerk as soon as she could too.

They crossed under the overpass and she nearly jumped when a car rushed overhead with a roar of sound. She was surprised when Ray spoke more quietly. "I can't decide if it's nice hearing cars again, or if I want it to stay quiet."

She thought a second before responding in kind. "Ordinarily I like the quiet but the city feels so empty. I don't know... I guess it's a little eerie. Even in the midst of the plague, I expected the city to be louder."

He laughed and pointed toward the left again. "Tex said you rode out the flu on a horse ranch in Jackson but you don't sound like you're from Mississippi, or even Texas. Are you a city girl or a country girl?"

Now that they had emerged from under the highway she could see the tops of the hotels again. She could probably make it from here but she'd lost the energy to fight at this point. "I guess I'd have to say country girl." They passed a storefront that had been looted. Broken glass crunched beneath their feet and their voices seemed to echo in the quiet of morning. She had to admit that she'd hardly noticed the destruction when she was in the large group earlier. With Ray by her side she felt wary. All by herself she would have felt completely spooked and probably returned to running to get past the spot quicker. She tried to keep him talking for the noise. "I'm originally from an area south of Reno but for the last two years I lived just north of Jackson. You?"

"Well, I'm from the Miami area, but I was a counselor at a summer camp near Pensacola when the Flu hit. That's why I have so many kids depending on me. Their parents never made it to pick them up." She glanced his way to find that his scruffy jaw was clamped firm and he glared stoically at the pavement in front of them.

She stumbled over a drainage grate and his arm shot out to steady her. He pulled her upright against his side. His grasp was strong and sure and the heat of his body melted through her sweats. As soon as she righted herself he let go. "Your ankle ok?"

"Yeah, thanks for catching me." Her cheeks felt hot against the cool morning air. Ignoring the strange absence of warmth along her side she tried to go on like it hadn't happened. "So what are you doing here in St. Louis then?"

"It's a long story." She wondered why he didn't want to tell her. But she'd seen enough bad shit on the road and even before, as the virus swept through the country, to know better than to push. Whatever it was, it was probably best left in the past. She had to admit to herself, despite her initial dislike of Ray, hearing that he was caring for a group of orphans softened her heart just a little. After another half block he asked "What did you do, once the schools closed and all?"

"I took care of the horses. Without feed delivery we had to move them around every day so they had enough grass to graze and we had to haul water. Plus there's always stalls to muck and coats to groom. In the evenings I worked on my writing, watched movies, and played board games with mom and Court, the guy we were living with." With one last turn they emerged at the edge of the square surrounding the fountain and began crossing the grass. "Between the farm work and my imagination, I was never bored."

"Sounds nice." He was studying her. "I guess all that manual labor is why you are so…" He made an outline of a woman's body with his hand.

And just like that her irritation returned. "And I suppose all the testosterone is why you're such an typical teenage loser."

Most of the PT group had long since finished and gone off for breakfast or a shower. She saw the young men Ray had been with at the start wave to him. One of his buddies hit his friend in the side and motioned toward Kat. The other gave Ray a thumbs up. "Hey Ray, I knew she'd give into your charms." One of the guys called out. Beside her Ray stiffened a bit.

"Yeah, no, we're done now." Kat gestured over her shoulder toward where Bertrise was joking with Doc Rios about something. She awkwardly turned and walked away as swiftly as she could.

"You could at least say thank you for getting you back here safely!" He said it like a challenge as he was backing away toward his friends, a taunting grin on his face. His eyes were bright and one dark brow was arched. The world certainly wasn't fair if a guy that handsome, and that good in the sense that he was taking care of all those kids, was that much of an immature ass.

"Thank you oh Great One." She mocked, glad to be rid of him.


	5. Chapter 5 - SOS

Sorry for another long delay in updating. I am still an episode behind. It's been a crazy last few weeks. All the chaos of the new school year with new sports, and music lessons, and new kid schedules just sapped my abilities to get organized enough to edit this chapter and get it posted. But finally it's here now and it turned into another long monster. Hope you enjoy.

**S.O.S. - Good Charlotte**

Debbie shoved her back against the door to the apartment and pushed it open. She lugged a Budweiser box, heavy with canned food to the counter. Now that she had a job at the relocation center she was getting food rations and things were much easier. She glanced at the clock and noted that Peter would be home from the bowling alley in a few minutes. She began to unload her bags, realizing with disappointment that she'd been given carrots and beets as fresh vegetables for the third week in a row. She knew she should be grateful to have any fresh foods, but at this rate she'd never have yellow pee again. After she finished storing the food she pulled out a heavy iron skillet and tested to see if the stove would light today. The clicking of the igniter gave way to a comforting whoosh as the gas lit. At least they could have a hot dinner.

She was chopping onions and garlic as Peter bustled in the door. "Hey pretty lady! I see you're making my favorite dinner!" He laughed at his own joke as he put away his coat.

"Don't you know? Lentils and rice is my specialty now." As he had since their very first conversation, he helped lift her spirits just by being himself. "My big coup was scoring some fresh onions and garlic this week. I don't know where they came from, but I wasn't about to pass them up."

He took a seat at the peninsula counter. "How about corn or peas, anything green?" The lift of his brows reminded her of a kid asking for a cookie before supper, so hopeful but knowing they were probably going to be denied.

"No joy. I'll do what I can with the beet tops. They did have some oranges and grapefruits up from Florida today but they said they were giving them to families with young children and pregnant women first. If there are any left on Thursday I'll try to get some."

Peter grabbed a battered plastic watering can from the counter. "On that note, I better go water Kara's plants. If she ever gets back this way she can make some lemonade from that sad little tree we rescued in apartment 78."

Debbie pushed the lentils around the pot with her spoon. She wondered what Kara was getting for meals. She hoped it was more varied than this. She thought about her daughter every day. She wondered what she was doing, how her health was, and what had happened with Danny. She'd replayed the afternoon in the bowling alley over and over in her mind. She'd recognized Danny from the photo his mystery friend had sent her weeks before, assuring her they were both safe on the Nathan James, but Kara had done everything she could not to appear attached to him making her wonder what their situation was now. Even after she correctly guessed about the baby Kara hadn't really said anything to make it clear that Danny was the father. But a mother knows. A man's eyes didn't follow a woman everywhere unless he was seriously invested in her. She was sure he was earnest when he'd asked her for the ring but she wasn't sure Kara would accept. That daughter of hers could be darn stubborn when she wanted to be. Right now she hoped she was being stubborn about getting her sleep and eating good food but if she knew Kara, she was probably insisting she didn't need to slow down instead.

Peter startled her out of her reverie when he returned from next door. A gust of cold air chased him inside. "Brrrr. I better start the fireplace while we have gas. It's going to be a cold one tonight." They were still under electricity restrictions but when the gas was flowing there were no restrictions on it. Afterward he sidled into the little kitchen space and looked over her shoulder at the pot she was still stirring. "You've stirred those lentils into a paste. What do you say we eat them before they are completely obliterated?"

"Oh, sure, yes." She began dishing the nutritious, if a bit bland, concoction into bowls. Peter added some salt, pepper, spices, and sprinkled on some herbs from the pots on the windowsill.

"What exotic place are we pretending we're in today?" She wished she had his skill with cooking. He could take a few herbs and spices and make plain old lentils into something entirely different.

"Oh, this is just a little cilantro, coriander and cumin." He squeezed the lemon over the top. "I wish we had just a little tomato to dice up and add in here too. Then we could be in Turkey. I'd like to take you to this little cafe I know, with a terrace that overlooks the Bosphorus. We could sit and drink strong coffee and eat fresh figs while the warm sea scented breezes sweep up the hills." They sat at the kitchen bar and he told her all about his time in Turkey. She supposed all these places were gone now. Well not gone exactly but they'd never be the same again. Still, maybe someday they'd get there. She loved that Peter shared stories from his career as a food and travel writer. Her husband had kept all his experiences private and it was something she'd resented, not knowing about his other life.

After they cleaned up she went out to the balcony and gathered the clothes she's placed out there to dry. There was barely any room with all the plants. Kara's apartment next door was even worse. Peter had collected the plants, especially edible ones, from the abandoned apartments around the building. He was even able to sell some of the herbs down at the weekly market he'd organized in the bowling alley parking lot after people began moving out. He said that after years of seeing people doing similar things all over the world, he'd realized that many Americans didn't know how to scrabble to keep themselves afloat. It was pretty much the same reason he had kept the bowling alley open and eventually turned it into a shelter. He had a knack for looking after people.

They settled on the couch together to soak in the warmth of the fire. A year ago she wouldn't have imagined this scene without a glass of wine in her hand. "You're very quiet tonight. Still worrying over Kara?" Peter settled his arm around her and she relaxed into his warmth, knowing he'd reassure her.

"I am. I know I should trust her but what if something happens? How long will it take for us to find out? She's with the President! That's got to be one of the most dangerous places to be right now. With all the rumors that the West is breaking away to a new country, and the war lords in the cities, and the Immunes. It kills me not to know."

Peter slipped his fingers under the cuff of her sleeve where she was hiding her cold fingers. "We registered at the Navy office. They will inform us as soon as they know anything."

"She said six weeks tops It's been seven and all we know is that she's in Saint Louis. You'd think she's take pity on her poor mom and let me know what's going on! I've already lost two children who each assured me that they were perfectly safe." She recognized the panicked tone to her voice. It was the same breathless speech that used to precede her worst benders.

"Kara's job is nothing like Eric's." Peter stroked a thumb over her wrist and she tried to focus on the soothing feel and let her anxious pulse slow. "I've been to Afghanistan and even in good times it was wild place."

Debbie snorted. "Some people would say the same about St. Louis." She shifted to face him. "But Danny's job is very much like Eric's. Eric was supposed to be one of the best. He always promised me he would be careful. But when it came down to it, he put himself in danger for someone else's children and got killed."

Peter gathered her close. "I know honey, but what does your worrying do to stop that? You need to accept that this is out of your control." Peter hugged her tight against him. "If we have any idea that she needs us, we'll go to her."

She pulled back and looked into his face. She was almost afraid of what he'd say but she had to ask. "Would you do that? Leave Norfolk and your bowling alley and come with me to St. Louis if I wanted to?" She watched his eyes in the dim light of the fire. They never left hers. "Yes. I've been assuming that you'll want to go there sometime soon anyway."

Debbie was surprised. Although Peter took great care of her and she did her best to do the same for him, she'd assumed that his life was here in Norfolk now. He had a business after all. Her heart squeezed a little tighter in her chest. Maybe…"You don't have to come with me. I mean you can, but there are people here who need you and I'm a grown woman. I could drive there in two days, a day if I had to."

It was his turn to look surprised. And if she wasn't mistaken, a little hurt too. "I know you could do it on your own, but wouldn't you want some company? It's not quite as simple as gassing up and heading down the interstate anymore."

"I know. It's just…" Perhaps it was time to bite the bullet. She squared her shoulders and drew a deep breath. "I want you to come with me. Being with you makes me feel good. The way you forgive my past and expect the best from me makes me feel strong and good and even worthy. But you deserve to build a life based on your own dreams. I don't want to take you away from that. I want you for me, for my selfish reasons, and that's not really fair to all the the other people you help here everyday. But Kara is my daughter and right now I feel like she needs me. I've let her down so many times before so even though I know it's going to hurt, I know I have to go eventually." She stared at her hands. The same hands that had spent years caring for a farm her husband had resented. The same hands that had worked beside Peter all these months to keep their little band of survivors alive.

"You know what?" Peter's forehead crinkled as he repressed a smile. "I spent almost 25 years mostly worrying only about myself. I went where I wanted, ate what I wanted, wrote about what I wanted. I was living my dream. You know what I found out?"

She wanted so badly for him to say that it was a lonely life, that he had wanted someone to share it all with. "I loved it in theory more than I actually loved it. At first it was awesome. I was on top of the world. But eventually it grew tiresome as I grew older. For years I partied hard thinking that was the reason my younger years had been so great. But I was wrong."

She tried to hide the hope in her face. "You were?"

"Yeah, I was. What had made my younger years so great were the trips home. I'd share my stories and people would tell me theirs. I was away but I still had a network of friends and family there behind me. But over the years we slowly pulled apart. When I went home the catch up stories became about kids I didn't know had been born and people I'd never met. And my stories were the same. Pretty soon I wasn't going home."

Fear stabbed through her. "Are you telling me that if I go it's over?"

He gripped her hand tighter. "No! Oh goodness no. Exactly the opposite. My dream is to share my life with someone. To be in their life and for them to be in mine. To be able to bring something to each other time and again that isn't stale or sad or yesterday's news. If you go, I will be right there with you. Sure, I love what I do here. I want to help people, be in their lives, get them back on their feet. But most of all, I want to be in your life. You're my dream Debbie."

She let out a shaky breath. "I want that too." It came out as a whisper. "I want you to come with me. I'm scared to go alone. But with you, I can do anything."

He cupped her face. "It's settled then. We'll start figuring out how to get to Saint Louis tomorrow?"

"Yes, we'll do it together."

Debbie walked out to the concrete loading dock behind the relocation center taking in some fresh air during her lunch break. Some days the stories of families torn in half, children or parents gone from the flu, or even the people unable to cope with the trauma of it all got to be too much and she needed to take a quiet moment to herself. On days like these she sat out back and thought of all the good times she'd had. Planning the trip to Saint Louis was more daunting than Debbie had feared and her discouragement blanketed her in a heavy weight, as if her bones were made of lead. The easy part had been deciding to go but the logistics seemed to be near impossible. The urge to just keep on walking to the bar at the end of the street was hitting her unusually strong, like it had her first few days of staying sober.

She slipped a hand in the deep pocket of her cardigan sweater and fished around for her phone. Maybe she should call Peter, tell him how she was feeling, and get a pep talk so she didn't give in to her urge. She swiped a finger up the splash screen. No new messages. Everyday she hoped for a message from Kara. Even a secondhand message through the Navy offices would cheer her up. In her head she knew that long distance communication was still extremely limited, but her heart thought it was just plain unfair. She idly flipped through her photo album. There was Peter hamming it up at the bowling alley's official re-opening. There was Kara's sulky old barn cat, Buttons. She'd taken care of the mangy thing for six years after Kara graduated high school even though Debbie was allergic to it. She flipped through pictures of the old farmhouse and her sister's place in Nebraska and a storm coming over the horizon. And then she landed on the picture of Kara and Danny that some guy had sent her back in August, when everything had been going to hell and she'd worried Kara was dead.

She stopped scrolling and studied the picture. Kara had one hand on Danny's chest and a wide smile on her face as she gazed up at him. Her other hand was caught in his. They looked happy, but of course it had been before the flu messed everything up. A friend of Danny's had sent it just before things got really bad in Norfolk. "Have hope." The message had said. She reminded herself that things had been worse. So many people had died in the building next door that the city had decided to burn it to the ground. She and Peter had wondered if people were going to starve to death right there in the bowling alley. She'd seen stores being looted, rioting at hospitals, the scramble of humanity to survive. She looked back over her shoulder at the relocation center. She had to have hope. As long as she kept at it, something good was bound to happen.

The breakthrough came that evening. She was telling Peter about how she had resisted the urge to go to the bar when he suddenly burst out. "Didn't Danny give you the name of an old buddy to call if there was any real trouble?"

Shocked she grabbed her purse off the sofa table and fished around for her address book. "Yeah he did, and a phone number too. I remember because it was local." She found the entry in her address book. "Vince Drazinski, VanPelt Marina, Norfolk News. That's the guy. Why, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that given his line of work, Danny's friend might be better equipped than we are for this kind of trip. Maybe we should look him up."

They tried calling Vince twice but his phone went straight to voicemail. After leaving a polite, if somewhat tentative message, Debbie closed her eyes and leaned back against the couch. "I know it's foolish, but if this doesn't pan out I think we should just take Kara's car and see how far we can get before we hit snowed in roads. The closer we are to Saint Louis the better chance we have of finding other people headed that way who are better prepared and can help us." She tried to sound hopeful but she wasn't so sure she had the energy for that.

The next day they woke to a cold apartment. The gas supply must have been interrupted again. Debbie looked out the balcony doors at the flat gray sky as she called Vince for the third time. This time she wasn't surprised that there was no answer. Peter admonished her to remember that Kara could take care of herself but she still spent most of the day worrying. A gnawing in her gut kept reminding her that Kara needed her. While it was very rewarding helping other families get back on their feet, she felt almost like she was neglecting her own family by not being there in Saint Louis. After another sleepless night she shook Peter awake on the fifth morning since she'd had the idea to go to Saint Louis.

"Go back to sleep. I don't think it's even light out yet." He muttered from under the quilt.

Debbie tugged his pillow out from under his head. "I couldn't sleep and I've been waiting for you to wake up. I decided that if we go to this guy's marina and he isn't there, I'll stop holding out hope that he's going to call and we'll find another way. But until we do that, I can't rest."

They couldn't get the location of the marina with their phones so she and Peter ended up in the parking lot, bent over the hood of the car, planning a route on an old paper map. "I'm pretty sure the toll bridge is out which makes this a much longer trip than usual." Peter traced the road with his finger. We're going to have to go up the James river to cross here. It will probably take hours." He looked up from under his heavy dark brows, silently questioning if she wanted to try it anyways.

"OK. I think we'd better pack our gear for the whole trip, just in case it takes longer than we think." Debbie hoped Peter would go along with her plan. When she'd finally decided that she'd feel better if she at least tried to get to Kara, she'd realized that she was going, even if he didn't agree to it. She laid her hand over his where it held the map down in the light breeze. "I'll understand if you don't want to come with me."

Peter looked up, startled at her statement. She saw the resolution in his eyes. Her heart, so used to coming in second in a man's priorities sank. She ducked her head so he wouldn't see her disappointment. After all, just because she understood didn't mean she liked it.

He slid a warm hand under her chin and angled her face up so he could meet her eyes. "I thought we already established this the other day? Where you go, I go. Your family is my family. Our girl could need us. Us, the both of us. So we will go, together." That finalized things. They spent the rest of the day packing and making arrangements. She finally slept soundly that night knowing that she'd be making progress toward Kara in the morning.

"Are you as sure as I am that this is the right marina?" Debbie asked Peter for the third or fourth time. It was three in the afternoon and they hadn't seen anyone since arriving two hours earlier. Many of the boat slips were empty, although a few had red Xs sprayed on the dock. She wondered if the marina owner had scuttled them or if the owners, knowing they were doomed, had sailed out to meet their fate at sea. The small shack near the entrance, she was pretty sure it was the same one from the picture of Kara and Danny, stood empty. The front door was wide open and they found nothing of value inside. There were three cars parked in the parking lot. Two were empty and the third…she shuddered. She'd looked in the window before she caught on that the horrible smell was coming from inside. Now they were sitting on the farthest out dock, eating some cold lentils and carrots and debating what to do next.

"You know what? We came this far, perhaps we should just bed down in the shack or one of the empty boats for the night, see if anyone shows up later or tomorrow. Maybe he went away for the weekend." She was trying to be positive but her heart was feeling about as cold as the deep green water swirling in and out between the piers.

"I agree. Despite the car and the abandoned look, someone has been here. If no one was caring for this place I'd expect more bodies, trash, and maybe a few squatters."

Debbie nodded. "Since we're going to stay we'd better get busy. We don't want to leave our supplies unguarded all night so I suppose we should pick a boat to move into." In the end, they hauled everything to a nice little fishing cruiser called the Worm Dangler because it had a solar water tank which promised a lukewarm shower, even if it was a little cramped. After lugging their stuff in they still had an hour or so before nightfall.

Peter suggested that they push the car with the body in it to the middle of the parking lot and use some gas from the pumps by the dock to torch it. "No one needs to see that, and it's only going to get worse." He was right, and even if it was a distasteful job, she agreed on the condition that Peter take the registration from the glove box so they could leave a note for the family of the owner. By the time they had the car engulfed in flames, the sun was setting and the air was getting cold. Despite the heat warming her face, she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it, knowing someone's child or father, or maybe grandfather was in there. Her only consolation was that that car was registered to a Roberto Nunez and not a Vince Drazinski.

Nearly dark, she realized that there were no street lights or security lights coming on. "I don't know if it's like this everyday out here or if the power is just undependable like Norfolk's, but I think it might be a good idea to go to bed early." Peter agreed so they slowly picked their way down the dark dock to the boat and shut it up tight in case the yellow flames and billowing dark smoke made by the car fire drew attention drew attention. There was a small propane heater that Peter managed to get going and pretty soon they were quite cozy.

The next thing Debbie knew something was startling her awake. At first she was disoriented by the acrid smell from the burning car, the slight rocking, and faint light coming in the cabin windows instead of Peter's bedroom window. She lay quietly in the early morning gloom and listened intently. Initially she didn't hear anything, but then there was a faint sound of gravel beneath feet. A minute later there was a quiet footstep on the dock. As the footsteps padded along closer and closer her heart pounded in her ears.

"Peter!" She hissed in the darkness, feeling around to shake his shoulder. It could be the guy they were looking for or an angry boat owner. But it could also be a scavenger. No matter what, she wished the meeting was occurring in daylight. The footsteps stopped for a moment and then she heard a thud as whoever it was jumped into the stern of the Worm Dangeler. She wasn't sure if she should be more worried that they weren't even trying to be quiet. Did that mean whoever it was would shoot them in the bed and rob them for supplies? Peter sat up as the boat rocked unevenly. "Shhhh." She pointed toward the door even thought he probably couldn't see her in the near blackness black. "He'll hear you."

"Hello?" Peter called out.

"What are you doing?" Debbie hissed as she shrank against the back wall of the bunk wishing she could melt into it and hide. She watched in the faint moonlight coming through the portholes as Peter began to pull on his jeans.

"Just let me find my shoes and I'll be right out." Peter began shoving his feet into his boots. As he bent to tie them he said. "Might as well be friendly." But she noticed that he leaned over the bed and grabbed something from his bag and shoved it into the back of his jeans.

"Where did you get that?" She whispered. Pushing herself upright and beginning to dress with a sigh.

"Kara's nightstand."

God, after this she'd really need a.. She stopped herself. She sighed and accepted that she had to face this sober. After this she'd need a hug. She'd start with that.

"I'm coming out. I mean you no harm." Peter called.

"The woman has to come out too." The gruff reply was the first the other man had actually spoken.

Debbie slid over the edge of the bunk onto the cold floor and shuffled after Peter. He grasped the door knob. "Stay behind me." At the last second she spied a long thin fish knife on the small kitchen counter and snatched it up. She wouldn't have a clue how to hurt someone with it, but it would look threatening at least.

Peter opened the door and stepped onto the small stern of the fishing boat. The frost covering the wooden slats of the deck instantly dampened Debbie's stocking feet with stinging cold. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust. The man in front of them wore black from head to toe. He was quite large and fit but she could hear in his voice that he was closer to her and Peter's age than Danny's. His wide legged stance reminded her of her late husband, outwardly calm and relaxed but inwardly poised for action if necessary. Yep, she'd bet her last dollar that this was the guy they were looking for. She noted the vicious looking knife held in his hand with dismay. "I suppose this is useless." She set the fishing knife down again and then stepped all the way out of the door.

He looked Peter and Debbie up and down before asking "What are you doing on my boat?" in a curt tone.

Peter stuck out a hand. "You must be Vince Drazinski." She could feel his tension in his shoulder where she rested her hand. He might be courageously acting like this was all normal, but inside he was quaking just like she was. Somehow that helped her feel a little braver.

The man didn't move a muscle in response. "Never heard of him." His eyes followed her hand as she set down the knife and then flicked back to Peter. "Turn around so I can relieve you of your gun. Then we can talk."

Peter held up his hands and turned around. "How did you?"

Vince gave a wry laugh. "I've been in sticky situations once or twice before." He took the gun from Peter's waist band and removed the clip before setting it on top of a narrow storage cabinet. "Now, tell me what you are doing squatting on my boat."

Debbie stepped further out of the warmth of the doorway and in front of Peter. The man eyed her shoeless feet and messy hair and she suddenly felt very foolish for coming all the way around the river to ask a stranger if they could help them. She stuck out her hand and pasted on her friendliest smile even though she was practically shaking in fear. "Hello Vince. I'm Debbie Foster. I've been trying to reach you for days. Didn't you get my messages?"

"Ma'am, like I said, I don't know this guy you're looking for. And you're still trespassing." He was trying to sound polite but she noticed his posture stiffening and the angry slashes his arms made as he talked. Something that she'd said had struck a chord. Well, if he was trying to run her off, he'd have to try harder.

Peter muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Come on Deb. We can sleep in the car."

"No, Peter. We need help to get to St. Louis and Danny said we could count on this guy." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a sailboat at a mooring 50 yards away that hadn't been there last night.

"I already told you, I don't know what you are talking about. I'm not Vince and I don't know anyone named Danny. Now get off my boat." The man growled.

Undeterred, Debbie snorted. "Game's up Drazinski. You own this marina and this boat and the Double Palms over there, which I see is how you got here." Peter turned a questioning eye toward her. She was busy giving Vince a smug smile. She was pretty sharp when she was sober, thank you very much.

"Jeez lady. You just don't give up! I haven't had a cell phone since July. I didn't get your messages. If you don't get your stuff and leave this instant I am going to shoot you. Trust me, there is no one out here to stop me."

I haven't had a cell phone since July? Debbie narrowed her eyes on him. July? She didn't think so. She gave Vince her best parenting glare. The one that had convinced a 13 year old Eric to admit he'd broken his arm bridge jumping (when she'd strictly forbidden it) and had gotten Kara to confess she was quitting track even though she loved it because another girl told her the the boy she was crushing on didn't like athletic girls. "I am Debbie Foster, Kara's mother." When he didn't respond she huffed impatiently. "Danny said to contact you if we ever needed help. We want you to help us get to St. Louis. We're not going until you explain why you won't help us." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the wall of the small cabin. She was beginning to shiver in the chill air but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she couldn't last much longer.

"Look lady." He slammed his fist down on the gunwale. "I am the one holding the gun here. Believe me, you wouldn't be the first person I've shot for refusing to cooperate."

"Deb…" Peter was backing up into the cabin. "Really, let's just go. We'll figure out another way."

"No." She stomped her foot and then immediately regretted it as painful icy prickles shot up her leg. She ignored Peter, tapping something on her phone. A moment later Vince's pocket started ringing.

"Still want to claim you're not the guy we're looking for?" She arched a brow in triumph and Vince fumbled for his pocket.

"How did you get this number?" He shut his phone off and slipped it back into his pocket.

Debbie calmed her strident tones. He was giving in after all. No need to push farther. "You called me." She held up the picture of Danny and Kara together. "You sent this to me in August. And when Danny gave me your info I put two and two together."

Vince eyed Peter. "Is she always like this?"

Peter shrugged. "Pretty much."

"No wonder Kara was the one!" Vince sighed and pulled his hat off his steely gray curls. "Very well. How about you get some shoes and you both come up to my house. I'll put on some coffee and we can sort this out up there."

Ten minutes later they were lounging in front of the woodstove in Vince's shack. The steam from a fresh cup of coffee warmed Debbie's nose. "I m sorry I gave you such a hard time. I've had agents from several quote 'government agencies' come seeking my services over the past few months. The last group got pretty pissy when I turned down their offer to return to El Paso with them to train their little army. The car you torched contained one of their lackeys." Vince explained that he had been taking two week trips offshore and only coming in when he needed fresh water. "I had been up the river a bit and as I came past here I saw the smoke and decided I'd better stop and make sure some hooligans weren't torching my shack. I really didn't mean to scare you. Even if it hadn't been you, my plan was just to make sure the last group of goons wasn't back."

"I understand." Debbie leaned over and patted his hand. "My late husband was just like you. Deadly when called for but sweet as can be when the pressure was off."

Vince leaned back in his chair. "Foster? Why does that..." He sat forward in a rush. "Butch Foster""

"Yes, indeed." Debbie was tickled that he knew of him. "Did you know him?"

Vince smiled. "Everyone of a certain age and MOS knew of Butch. He was legend Ma'am. Both for his professionalism and his love of a good party. We met once or twice. We're a small community after all. It always was a mystery why he just up and quit the way he did." Debbie pressed her lips together. The fact that her drinking had worried her husband enough to quit his job and move back to Kansas full time wasn't something she wanted to crow about. Fortunately, if Vince had any idea he kept it to himself. "I did know your son, Eric, quite a bit though. He came through a class I was teaching out at White Sands one winter. I was very sorry when the news came through about his death. He was the best I'd ever seen with a rifle."

She felt the prick of tears at the corner of her eyes. "We used to call him second best in the world." She looked up and saw the confused look on his face. "Oh, Butch used to egg the kids into competition whenever he was home."

"Well, I hate to say it but Eric completely outclassed Butch in that department."

"Mhum." She met his eyes and saw the sincerity there. She tried not to dwell on her loss but it hit her with the same aching pain deep in her chest that it always did. Damn men and their stupid need to fight tooth and nail for every last resource. She imagined the world would be a different place if it was ruled by mothers.

Vince glanced at Peter. "You got any history that I ought to know?"

Peter laughed. "Not the kind you're thinking of. But I speak 7 languages passably well and I can write a damn fine travel article."

Debbie hugged Peter's arm and giggled. "And he bowls a 240 so if you want to challenge him to a duel, don't choose bowling."

Vince laughed heartily. "I'll keep that in mind." Debbie could see why Danny trusted him. Despite the contentious start she already felt like he had accepted her into a new family. "So why do you want to get to St. Louis so urgently? Last I knew the Nathan James was still going to be based out of Norfolk. Once she's repaired they will come back down the river." He reassured her before taking a sip of his coffee.

She couldn't help but smile. Even an apocalyptic flu wouldn't keep her from feeling joy at sharing the news of her grandchild. "I guess that means you haven't heard the news." She paused to gauge his reaction. "Kara is pregnant."

Vince's eyes shot up from the rim of his mug. "Did I just hear that correctly?"

"Yes." She beamed. "They should be about 22 weeks now."

"Well Holy Toledo!" His grooved face split in a bright grin. "I never thought I'd live to see the day Danny Green became a father! I guess the Admiral really knew what he was doing putting them on that ship."

Debbie and Peter exchanged a glance. She could tell Peter was relaxing now that Vince had turned into the kind of guy he would meet at the bowling alley bar rather than in a dark alley. "Well, Vince. Now that you've decided we aren't a threat and you've heard the good news, will you help us get to St. Louis safely?"

Vince leaned forward in his chair. "I suppose I will. Danny Green is about as close to a son as my own. Plus I really can't stick around here with these guys constantly coming to 'recruit me'." He raised a glass. "Welcome to the family Debbie, Peter." They toasted and then set to work planning the supplies they would need and the route they would take.


	6. Chapter 6 - It Hurts Me Too

I was down to Baton Rouge for some shopping and dinner with a cousin two weeks ago when I wrote this. We had so much to talk about that I ended up driving home in the dark, hours later than I intended. The humidity was so bad I had to keep turning on the heat and opening my window to defog my windshield. I thought I would have some nice volume in my hair the next day but instead it turned my curls into a disorganized mess. (In other words I looked normal.) I think that's how it kind of goes for Tex and Kat too. They are trying to make the best of things, but right now they don't have a whole lot to work with. Personally, I think my time is going to come when I get old enough to just have a nice little old lady style. Kat and Tex should hold out some hope for their future too. And Baton Rouge, well things suck there this week, it's true. But they should have hope too. Unexpected events often spark new opportunities.

**It Hurts Me Too, Tampa Red**

The sound of the window shades being opened screeched through Kat's bleary brain. "What the…"

"Come on sleepyhead. Time's a wasting. We've got PT in 20 minutes."

"Dad!" Kat lifted her head from where she'd fallen asleep at the hotel room's desk late the night before. Her eyes felt crusty and she was pretty sure she'd drooled into the keyboard. "I'll make the noon workout. Don't you know that teenagers need more sleep?" She'd been a regular at the morning run for a week now and she would miss the exercise but she was just too tired to go today.

Her dad didn't answer her. He was leaning over her shoulder looking at the screen. Belatedly, she realized that she was still in the chatroom where she had been talking to some kid who claimed to be in Vegas. She'd been psyched when she discovered that she could get online last night with the computer's direct satellite capability. She'd spent the evening trying to find out information about families she knew at home in Nevada but so far, she'd had no luck.

"Un uh. Don't you try that with me." Her father drawled. "If you went to sleep at a reasonable hour you wouldn't be such a slug-a-bed." He tugged at his beard. "That thing looks like something from nineteen ninety five. I thought the hotel's wifi was still restricted? I'm an old fashioned kind of guy, but I'm pretty sure I understand about how the internet works. How are you online?"

"Um, ah I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be on it? I just tried and it worked." She avoided making eye contact, knowing he would easily pick up on her lie.

"Kat. Kat." He sighed deeply as he shook his head. "I'm disappointed that you thought that would be nearly enough to fool me."

She groaned as he headed for the door thinking he was going to shoo her out for a workout. She was tired and impatient to find out if any of her friends were still alive. On top of that, she didn't think she could stomach another dreadful conversation with Ray right now. But to her surprise her father shut and locked her door.

"That's your mother's computer, isn't it?" He came back and sat in the arm chair next to the desk, waiting for her reply.

She nodded, staring at the screen rather than at him. The computer had logged her out now that she wasn't pressing the keyboard and the cursor blinked expectantly in a login box, reminding her that she had to use her mother's credentials to access the machine. "Yes."

"Find anything interesting on it?" He eyed the cornflower blue screen. Kat knew what he was saying. Who knew how many other agents her mother had managed beyond her dad. There could be information about names, locations, assignments, and who knows what kind of incriminating evidence in the computer's files. "Because it should probably be secured somewhere. If any of her operatives, other than me of course, are still alive, it could be bad for us all. There are still dangerous people out there. I told you about the Russian Admiral and the warlords and the Immunes, didn't I?"

He hadn't said much about it but almost everyone she met gushed about how her dad was a hero in Gitmo, on the Vyerni, in Baltimore, and in Florida. "I know Dad. I know. I'm just trying to find out if any of my old friends are still alive, that's all. You know, the Gallegos and Billsons and Longpines, and Grandma. We've had no news about anyplace near home and..." She was embarrassed to feel the sting of tears in her eyes as she thought of old friends. "..they were all alive when we lost internet in Mississippi. I am hoping someone is out there who knows."

She wondered if he even remembered their old friends and neighbors. After all, he'd hardly been home for the last 12 years. But when she glanced at his face she saw that he was pressing his lips together momentarily, his eyes downcast. "It's hard to be angry about that. I still miss that place." He sighed. "Still, tell me how you got past the security? You need an access card."

"I knew the initial password. My own computer broke a few months ago so Mom did something to encrypt all the files on hers to let me use it. And she never used the card reader anyway." She ejected a tiny SD card from the side. "Just this. And anyway, all I could use was my writing program until last night."

"How'd you get online then?" He took the small card from her hand and turned it over looking for writing or a label but she already knew he wouldn't find one. To anyone else it appeared like the plastic dummy card that was sometimes sold with a computer to show how the slots worked.

"A notification popped up that a satellite was in range and I clicked. When it asked for a password I just guessed. After that I could use the internet, same as before."

Her dad ran a hand down his beard. "You couldn't have just guessed a 16 digit password or started randomly trying codes. Did you have a password cracking app or something? Geez, I thought we had better safeguards on our state secrets by now."

She understood his surprise She'd been astonished how easy it had been. "Well, I did use a password generator to get ideas to try but it wasn't tricky if you knew her. It was her birth date, your wedding anniversary, and my birth date each separated by dashes. Machines may be perfect but they are run by us, and human nature does us in every time."

"Huh, that's all? Well I'll be darned." Her dad leaned in close to get a good look at the screen. "Did you try to access any of her other files? Because I'm serious when I say there could be real dangerous stuff on there."

She shook her head. "No, they are still encrypted, different password."

"And no one tried to contact you while you were online?"

"Nope. I just went to some chat groups I used to keep in touch after we moved and asked people if they'd seen my friends there." He was listening to her but also pressing his chin to his chest, the way he did when he was trying to make a decision. Fear stabbed through her. "Please don't take it away Dad! I just started asking and I haven't learned anything yet but what if Kirsten or Willa or any of my friends are still alive? I don't have any other way to find out."

He lifted his head. "I know Kitty Kat. I know how much it would mean to find information about them. But this matters for my job. I've got to report it and have it secured." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he pleaded with them for her not to argue.

She felt the frustrations and anger of the last few weeks bubbling up inside her. "But what will I do now? I'm cooped up in this room all day with no TV, no books, no anything to do. I write just to keep myself from going crazy."

His look was sympathetic but he held his ground all the same. "I know honey. I'll see what I can do about getting you a computer as soon as I can, ok?" He reached for the screen to shut the lid on the computer but she laid her arm across the keyboard to stop him.

"Wait! I've got to get my files." Quickly she connected her phone and transferred her files. As she did, she watched her father. He seemed suddenly impatient to have the computer in his possession. She wondered who would take it next.

Finished with the transfer, she pulled the cable and shut down the computer, handing it back to her father. Aside from a necklace her mother always wore, she hadn't brought anything else of her mother's with her from Jackson. As he lifted it's weight out of her hands she felt a small weight of grief settle in it's place. He tucked it under his arm and stood to go. "You gonna tell me the machine password?"

She couldn't help her peevish reply. "You're the super spy. Figure it out yourself." The look of hurt in her dad's eyes settled in the pit of her stomach like another lead weight.

"Kathleen…" He looked like he was about to apologize but then thought better of it. "I'll get this secured then I'll be back. Let's go to breakfast and then go see if we can come up with something for you to do that's better than sitting here alone all day." She grumbled something nasty and if her father heard it, he chose to ignore it.


	7. Chapter 7 - I'm Doing Fine

Just having a little silly fun here...

**I'm Doing Fine, Albert King**

The phone rang in Kara's office. It seemed like these days it was ringing off the hook. Somehow she had become the veritable information booth of St. Louis. Michener's office was always calling wanting to know where a citizen could get this or that resource. Anytime Slattery had an idea while he was in the field he called her to write it down, and somehow her number was being given out as the contact for finding housing, food, and jobs in the city. "Foster-Green here." She supposed being busy was good. It kept her from dwelling on her the slightly sea sick feeling brought on by the smell of the coffeepot.

"It's Nishioka. Michener wants to know if Burk and Green have officially designated the Renaissance as the barracks for new recruits with families. Two have just shown up in our office wondering where they can sleep tonight." She was glad to hear more volunteers were coming out of the woodwork. Danny had barely slept for the last week wondering if they were going to have enough people and time to form any kind of reasonable defense against the MCF.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Danny and Carlton in Chandler's office, passing a map back and forth over the meeting table. She knew they were working on a plan to infiltrate the MCF territory and gather representatives from all 50 states and she didn't want to have to interrupt them. "Yes." She checked her watch. "I sent Ensign King there 2 hours ago. She'll help people get checked in and get on the meal schedule and work detail." She had been thoroughly impressed with how quickly Bacon had set up a plan to feed everyone. In little over a week he had two dinning halls running 24 hour schedules, 2 more with traditional meal times, as well as a small meeting room at the Raddisson acting as the officer's wardroom.

Nishioka sighed audibly. "Good. One more thing off our list!" He shuffled some papers. "A guy, PA or nurse or something like that, came in from Ottawa today. He says he's willing to go on the midwest trip. I sent him direct to Milkowski to get trained in spreading the cure but can you pass it on to Master Chief? He's going to do some drills with the civilians this afternoon so they know what to do if the convoy is attacked."

"That's great!" It reminded her that Danny and Carlton were leaving on their scouting trip tomorrow, and the rest of them would leave two days after that. "I'll add him to the list."

Nishioka sighed. "Ok, then I guess all I have left is the sensitive part."

"OK?" She replied suspiciously. It was unlike Carl to waffle about anything making it a sure sign that he didn't want to say something. "Spill it Carl."

"Um, I sent a messenger to Slattery's room earlier this morning and he wasn't there. I know he's doing those night patrols with the chief of police to decide what neighborhoods to prioritize for relocation…but really he should have been home. And the maid told the messenger that he hasn't slept in his room all week."

Kara had a feeling where this was going and she giggled despite herself. Mike did have a reputation after all. "Is it really urgent? Because he's probably sleeping somewhere else…um..quieter."

There was a pause on the other end. "It is pretty important. The President wants to talk to him about the piracy problems up river. A group of people came down from Minneapolis today and said they aren't getting the supplies that have been sent up that way yet. They were very angry, very critical of the President. He was finally able to placate them by promising them a meeting with Mike this afternoon to discuss the problem."

Kara rolled her eyes. Like everyone else, Slattery was wearing two or three hats lately. "Did you check the ship?"

"Yes, he hasn't been there. So I called the police station and found out where he's being dropped off at night." There was an audible gulp from the other end of the line. "Kara, I can't send some fresh faced private there to get him!"

She snickered. She couldn't help it. Of course he would be uncomfortable. Carl Nishioka was one of the most straight laced men she'd ever worked with. "Oh for goodness sakes Carl, this is Navy and Slattery is a grown man who for all practical purposes counts himself as single. You can't tell me you're all that surprised."

Noshioka groaned. "Oh come on Kara! This isn't some third word country Besides, even if I knew where the place was, which of course I don't, I still can't send some young guys in there to get him. And I'm certainly not going in there myself."

"How about I have Lieutenant Green go fetch him when he's done talking to Chandler?" She was going to get flak for this but it would be worth it for the story later.

"That would be great." Nishioka gushed, clearly relieved. "Tell him Michener says this is a high priority. The people who came were threatening to rally the residents in Minneapolis to start patrolling the river with hunting rifles."

Kara shook her head ruefully. "Sounds like we've got some potential leaders on our hands. Maybe they want to apply for the senate job?"

"Ha Ha." Carl commented dryly. "Watch out or I'll nominate you to represent Kansas."

"Sorry Carl, You're forgetting that I'm a Virginian now."

Carlton and Danny finally emerged from Chandler's office. Carlton held a thick folder covered in post-its and crossed out lists. He had a pen tucked behind one ear and he was already thumbing through his contact list to make some calls and hand out assignments. Danny held a tidy logbook which she knew if looked inside would contain pithy notes in his precise box lettering.

Kara stood and stretched her back. "Captain Chandler, I think I need a break now." Her stomach gurgled loudly. "I've got to get this little one to lunch! And I have a brief assignment for Lieutenant Green."

Carlton rolled his eyes and mock punched Kara in the shoulder. "Commander Green, are you abusing your rank to take your husband out for lunch?"

"While you're there can you ask the kitchen to send up a meal at 12:00 for me?" Tom called from his desk where he was already shuffling around materials to prepare for the next item on his agenda.

"No problem Sir." She nodded to Danny "It is actually a real job direct from our esteemed Commander in Chief's office. After that we can have lunch. Carlton want to join us?"

"Yeah, sure." Carlton agreed. "Unless I'm going to have to listen to you two argue about names again. Seriously guys, can't you just name it Carlton. Carlton is a great name."

They shared a laugh. He'd been suggesting his own name ever since it became common knowledge that they were having the baby. Lately it had become running joke with the crew. People Kara didn't even know would approach her or Danny and suggest their own names.

They exited the building and paused to fit their covers. "Do either of you know where the Cat's Meow is? Is it too far to walk?"

Carlton stopped dead in his tracks, a barely suppressed grimace on his lips. "Is this some twisted ploy to help me get over Ravit? Because store bought sex isn't something I need for that."

Kara wanted to laugh but she knew Carlton's feelings were still raw. "Nope, sorry. We really do have to go fetch Slattery for Michener."

"Alright then. You two have fun with that." He waved his folder. "Lots of work to do. I'll catch you later." Kara noticed he was backing away down the sidewalk.

Danny pointed to the parking garage entrance a few doors down. "Aw come on man. You know you want to see Slattery's face when we come to get him. Our car is right on the first floor. It won't take long."

Carlton scowled. "What? Are you too chicken to go by yourself Choir Boy? You've probably never even been inside a brothel."

"See you later Carlton." Kara waved. "Come on Choir Boy. I guess we're both going to have to suck it up and do this ourselves." She linked her arm through Danny's even though they were in uniform and it wasn't technically allowed. But seriously, she was the 4th highest ranked person in town so who was going to stop them?

Five minutes later they were waiting in the entry hall of a nice three story victorian a few blocks outside of downtown. A tall and slender black woman that Kara assumed must be Miss Kitty emerged from the end of the dark entry hall, wiping her hands on a bright white dish towel. "Harlow says you're here looking for someone?" She drawled. She wore black yoga pants and an ordinary gray St. Louis YMCA tee shirt. Her hair was neatly braided and pulled up on her head in a giant bun. Her feet were in sparkly purple flip flops. Kara wasn't sure what she'd expected a modern day madam to look like, but this wasn't it.

She exchanged a glance with Danny. "Ah yes, are you the uh, madam here?"

The woman stood a little straighter. "If someone is asking officially, then no, I am Miss Kitty Horne and I run a dating service and a boarding house." She looked them over again. "You two looking for a man or a woman?"

A squeal echoed down the stairwell from a room above followed by the sounds of a slap and then a long drawn out moan. Kara felt her face heat as she guessed what was going on. She hoped to heck that wasn't Mike. She needed to move this along. Putting on her best game face she answered Miss Kitty. "A man Ma'am. We're looking for a man."

Miss Kitty's gaze swept Kara from head to toe, taking in her round belly and full breasts. "Honey you already had a man. But if that's what rings your..."

Danny couldn't help but laugh at the shocked look on Kara's face. "Oh, oh you thought we?" He sputtered.

Kara cut straight to the point. "We're looking for a specific guy. Tall, about six-four. Fit, short grey hair. Goes by the name Mike Slattery." She wasn't sure if Slattery used his real name here.

The woman shook her head and slung the towel over her shoulder. "I'm just fooling with you. One look at those uniforms and I knew who you wanted. Come on, he's in the kitchen."

My goodness! Kara thought. They even use the kitchen!

They followed her down the narrow hallway to the back of the house. The rooms on either side looked like ordinary living and dining rooms to Kara with gleaming wood floors and ordinary furniture. There was no clutter and lots of bright light streaming in the ten foot windows. Given how the heavy wooden staircase shined, Kara had a feeling it was the smell of citrus wood cleaner making her queasy. As Miss Kitty pushed through a swinging door in front of them they heard Mike "Kitty, I swear you make the best coffee. Are you sure you don't want to run away with me?"

"You got company Mike." She held the door for Kara and Danny. Mike was lounging at a scarred kitchen table. There was a copy of the Post-Dispatch spread out in front of him and a cup of coffee at his elbow. His uniform shirt was hanging over an ironing board by the door they had come in and his boots were neatly standing by the outside door. A recorded baseball game was playing on a small TV on the counter. The smell of bacon and lemon dishsoap lingered in the air and Kara noticed a stack of at least 20 freshly washed plates by the sink. She certainly had not expected to find Mike in such a scene of domestic bliss and she exchanged a nervous glance with Danny.

"Ah the Greens. Must be important." He began folding the papers and stacking them in the center of the table.

"Yes Sir." Danny handed him the shirt and Mike sighed as he began buttoning into it.

They stood silently while he buttoned and then stuffed his feet into his boots. Miss Kitty opened the dish drainer and retrieved a dented aluminum mug. Kara watched as she poured fresh coffee into it added cream without sugar, just the way Mike took it. She slanted her eyes toward Danny and saw he was watching with one eyebrow raised in confusion.

Mike looked up from where he was tying his boot laces. "If this is so urgent that Tom sent you two, I guess you'd better fill me in now."

It was Kara's turn to laugh. "Actually we're here at Michners bidding. He's set up a meeting for you this afternoon about the piracy problem upriver. Nishioka just didn't think he should be sending a young impressionable ensign into a brothel to retrieve you." Her eyes sparkled.

From the other side of the counter Miss Kitty piped in "Dating service and boarding house."

"Mmmhum, right, a boarding house." Kara finished.

Mike's cheeks colored. "Alright. I have my own vehicle here. We're meeting at the courthouse I assume?"

"Yes Sir." Danny nodded, looking relieved that they could go now. "We'll see you there. Ah, thank you Miss Kitty. we can show ourselves out."

"You're welcome back anytime. Especially you ma'am. She nodded toward Kara's belly and Kara's eyes went wide. "You need some extra dolla's to get baby stuff? Trust me, a lot of men would love to meet you. Most fun at a baby shower you'll ever have." Miss Kitty pursed her lips, barely holding in her laughter. "They won't even mind if you want to watch." She nodded toward Danny.

"Ok, time to go." Danny steered Kara back through the swinging doors. She quivered in laughter at his suddenly possessive grip on her hip.

Behind them she heard Mike admonish the other woman. "Kitty, I know why you're the best informant in town, I just wish you'd stick to using your talents at reading people for good."

"Go to work Mike. I'll let you know what I've found out about who is using that warehouse on Park Street by tonight."


	8. Chapter 8 - Before I Grow Old

I have a sand dollar from Hunting Island on the dashboard of my car because it's one of my happy places. When I am feeling crummy I look at that sand dollar and remember an epic road trip, a lot of laughing, and time spent with the people who always have my back. If you ever have the chance to go there, take it...better yet, take some people you love and make it happen. Not only is it beautiful, but it's losing it's sand to the next island to the south. So, like the people you love, it won't be here forever.

**Before I Grow Too Old, Fats Domino**

Kara and Halsey stood at the edge of the parking lot, watching as the group heading to Chicago made one final check of their convoy. She checked her clip board, all vehicles, weapons, food, and medical supplies had been logged. Lieutenant Mason and Val had already had their final convoy-to-base communications check. Slattery had double checked the fuel and water situations about twenty times and was now standing off to the side, chatting with Chandler. There really was nothing more to do so she should head back to her office.

Officially the President was taking a two week Midwest tour, stopping in several cities, staffing and opening distribution bases in Chicago and Detroit, and dropping off civilians to spread the contagious cure and recruit more volunteers at other cities. If anyone asked about the route, which also included Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Indianapolis, it was because these were the largest cities they could serve from their present location and therefore the most effective way to spread the cure faster. While that might be true, the real reasons for the trip were meetings with drug manufacturers in Chicago, setting up a recruiting program at Great Lakes, and a meeting to exchange the cure and re-establish diplomatic relations with Canada. By this time next week, the cure should be marching back across the border in Buffalo and on toward New York City and the Eastern Seaboard.

Wolf sidled up beside Kara and gestured toward Danny, who was discussing seating arrangements with the civilians accompanying the group. "Sad you have to stay at home Ma'am?"

Her stomach growled loudly. "Actually, no. If the last few days are anything to go on, I won't make it past 3 PM without needing a snack and a nap."

Wolf's grin creased his face. "Ah, my ex-wife used to say no man ever lived who got between a hormonal woman and her snacks. You could be our secret weapon!"

Kara's brows lifted in surprise. "You were married? I figured you were the forever a bachelor type, traveling the world, living dangerously, beautiful women in every port."

"You mean like Green before he met you?"

It was her turn to grin. "Exactly!"

"I was, once upon a time. I guess you could say that I'm the tame old man version now. And don't worry, you understand the job and that it's not all life and death situations. You won't drive him away with your worry the way my wife did." She wasn't so sure about that. Sure, Danny was the one who'd almost cost them the ship out of fear for her, but she had abandoned her post to get to his side when she thought he could be infected, so she was just as susceptible to romantic irrationality.

Wolf gestured toward where Val and Alisha were doing some last minute checking on supplies. The pair had been bickering all morning which had made everyone else glad that only Alisha was going on the trip. "This time I sort of wish I was being left behind. I haven't had a place to call my own in a longtime. I'm thinking of trying my hand at matchmaking. What do you think?"

A giggle snuck out as Kara eyed the two women. "Once they are wrapped in tape they don't need labels too!" Val was snipping at Alisha as she grabbed a neat black twist of cable from Alisha's hand and jammed it in the storage tote on the hood of the SUV.

"And I told you that I won't necessarily be the one to do the set up so they really do need labels." Alisha uncapped a sharpie with her teeth and calmly pulled the cable back out of the box to write something on the tape.

Val threw up her hands. "Fine, make more work for yourself. I am done here." She tossed her hair over her shoulder and began to stomp off.

"If that's the happy couple I'd say you have your work cut out for you." Kara wondered if Alisha was even interested. She'd asked her if she wanted to reach out to her girlfriend but she'd said no, the mission needed to come first. Kara suspected she still needed time to grieve her mother before taking another emotional hit.

"Alright, time to load up." Slattery called from beside the passenger door of the the second car. A chorus of last minute good byes sounded around the trail of cars. Kara's heart pounded a little harder. She knew this shouldn't be a dangerous trip. Danny and Burk had taken two guys to scout the route up to Chicago and back earlier this week and the outlook was good. Still, it was the first time they would be apart for an extended period since they'd gotten on the ship and it just felt different to let Danny go now. They had already said their goodbyes this morning so she was surprised when she felt a prickle of tears. Sucking in a deep breath she gave Danny a curt wave and watched as he climbed into the driver's seat next to Slattery.

Wolf nudged her elbow and tilted his head over to where Val and Alisha had been a moment ago. Val had stomped off about five paces but then she'd stopped and turned to watch the convoy. Alisha was clipping the lid on the storage bin and muttering under her breath. She hauled it to her hip and headed for a car near the rear. He waggled his eyebrows at Kara with a chuckle and spoke softly so only Kara could hear. "Look at Val's eyes." Sure enough, they were following Alisha's every movement. "The eyes always give it away." For her part, Alisha was totally ignoring Val. She set the bin in the back of the car and then took her place in the back seat. "Time for me to go too." He winked as he took his place in the driver's seat of the third vehicle.

Kara trotted over to Danny's window and looked in. He was muttering curses as he tried to make the sticky pad for the GPS unit hold while the suction cup gave way yet again. Beside him Slattery was arranging his phone, sunglasses, and coffee in easy reach. She tapped on the glass. As the glass retracted she laughed. "You have to lick it before you stick it." She held her hand out for him to hand her the bracket he was fussing with.

From the backseat she heard Tex. "Geez Kara, given your present state I daresay the man already knows what he has to do first."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You see what I'm going to have to put up with all the way to Chicago?"

Slattery swiveled to look into the backseat. "Cool it Tex."

"Just, you know, be safe." She didn't want to make a fuss, especially not in front of the President and Commander Slattery.

"You too. Stay out of trouble." Danny squeezed her hand before releasing it. She stepped back onto the grassy curb, giving a dopey little wave. It brought to mind the first time they had been introduced. It was hard to believe it was less than a year ago. She forced a smile as a jumbled up flash of images from the last seven months assailed her, waking up to the sight of their clothes mingling together on the chair in his bedroom corner, standing a few people away during Frankie's funeral, stargazing from the deck of Vince's little sailboat, waking up from her seizures to him crying inside that horrible isolation suit, Halsey nearly flooring her when she walked into the wardroom, saying goodbye in the P-way before they began the trek up the Mississippi. As the line of black SUVs pulled out of the lot and headed for the ramp to the interstate, Kara felt the weight of melancholia settle over her shoulders.

Kara watched until the last car turned onto the ramp and sped away from view. The sound of their engines echoed in the otherwise quiet downtown. There were doubtlessly going to be a lot of goodbyes in their life. She remembered a game she used to play with her mother. "Now don't you get all worried." Debbie used to say. "Between breakfast and dinner you just pretend your dad is out in the barn or the fields doing his regular work. That will cut down the time you miss him by at least half." Halsey shifted by her leg, tail wagging as he spied some kids throwing a ball on the green in front of the courthouse. She remembered the first time Danny had left her and Halsey, all those months ago in Norfolk, back when she thought he was a scuba instructor. She tried to imagine that he was headed off to teach some people how to breath from a tank and swim in flippers. But try as she might, she couldn't see that Danny Green anymore. She patted Flutter and thought to herself "Don't worry. The first and the last few hours are the worst."

She turned to head back to her office and realized that Val was still standing there, watching the highway as if they would come back, one hand shading her eyes even though she had a pair of sunglasses holding back her riot of hair. The ordinarily fearless woman looked a bit lost with her oversized jacket, untied shoes, and ragged messenger bag. As Kara watched she sighed and then looked around the green, as if she wasn't sure where she was headed.

"Hey Val?" Inspiration struck and Kara waved to the other woman. "I'm going to go ask those kids if they want to throw the ball to the Fuzz while I get a coffee. Want to come with?"

Val slid the glasses down to her eyes and shuffled over before she replied. Kara wondered if she was going to tell her to leave her alone. "Ah, sure? I guess I could use something warm after this freezing air."

Kara glanced at the blue sky and shrugged. She hadn't even felt like she needed a coat today. But, the weather was as good a topic as any. "So I'm guessing you're from the South then?"

She still sounded a little stiff but she nodded her head this time. "Born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina." Kara noticed that Val's accent thickened as she said it.

"I went there once as a child!" This was good, maybe they would have something to talk about after all. "Although all I remember is that I saw dolphins on the causeway to Parris island and we camped at a beautiful state park that had thousands of sand dollars. I wanted to bring one home to Kansas but my mom said we could only take already dead ones, and all the ones we found were alive. I'm ashamed to admit that I snuck one home in a sandwich baggie. It made my room stink to high heaven as it dried out on my windowsill."

Val's smile spread and her face brightened. "That sounds like Hunting Island State park. One of my favorite places in the whole world." Val gestured to the buildings around them. "Such a wild place. When I'm in cities is when I miss it the most." She tucked her hand back into her jacket pocket, almost as if she was embarrassed that she'd become so animated. "So, Kansas, huh. That's about as far from the ocean as you can get."

Kara sighed. "That was originally the idea. But like you, now I miss home." They walked companionably for a minute but the quiet got to Kara. If it was Alicia or Burk she wouldn't have minded but she had no idea what Val was thinking. "And you went to Tulane?"

"No, actually I went to Duke, then MIT, then I was faculty at Tulane." She stood a little taller then and Kara could tell she took a lot of pride in her academic achievements.

She turned a little so that Val would see her smile. She wanted the woman to be at ease and open up a little more. "You know that's where Danny went too! He was a MechE. But I'd guess you didn't overlap." Now that she was for all intents and purposes the spy master, she certainly wanted to know more about Val as a potential asset, but she also wanted to make sure she was ok in case Alisha decided she was interested after all.

Val nodded and gave Kara a sheepish grin. "I know! We missed each other by one year. I was Double E and Comp Sci so we could have crossed paths otherwise."

Surprised, Kara asked, "Oh, I didn't know you'd had a chance to talk that much to Danny?"

Val tossed her red dreads back over her shoulder and burst out laughing. "Jealous much?"

Kara flushed. "No, actually I didn't think you were into..."

Val patted her arm. "Well if you must know, I'm an equal opportunity gal...but your guy is safe around me. I only know because I always read the files of all the upper management before I agree to do any work. Gotta know who I'm dealing with." In some ways, Kara was less surprised that she'd hacked OPM than that she'd remembered such a detail. Val probably could be a great asset.

They reached the square and Kara pulled a ratty tennis ball out of her pocket. She didn't have to even move her arm and Halsey was jumping up on his back legs and putting his front paws together to beg in front of her. "Wow, he really loves that thing."

"It's part of his reward system. He loves to play." Kara threw the ball and 80 pounds of fur hurtled out into the grass, yipping like a puppy.

"I read his file too." Val nodded towards where Halsey was approaching some kids, ball in his mouth. "He's been injured on the job twice. But I guess better him than Danny."

Kara's heart squeezed at the thought. "I suppose that's true, but after all we've been through, I try not to think that way. He's family now."

Val shaded her eyes from the sun and watched as he nudged the ball toward a timid six year old. And then she shocked Kara by briefly grabbing and clenching her hand. "You're all right Foster-Green. I think you and I are going to get along just fine." She pulled a crumpled dollar bill from her pocket and waved it toward the group of kids by the fountain. "Hey y'all, who wants a dog sitting job?"


	9. Chapter 9 - Goin' Down Slow

**Goin' Down Slow, Howlin' Wolf**

After so many months at sea and then weeks staying in and around St. Louis, it felt strange to be taking a convoy up I-55, but it also felt good to be on the road. Mike relaxed into the buttery soft leather bucket seat. He'd always scoffed at souped up trucks and SUVs, saying that if someone wanted that kind of luxury in their ride they should buy a luxury sedan, but he had to admit that it was nice to ride n comfort for a change. They had considered many vehicle options but ultimately settled on some SUVs commandeered from X'd houses. Shopping at the X, as it was called these days, had become quite common over the last few weeks and St. Louis was placing time limits on when relatives could return to claim items. It gave them the ability to raise cash by selling off properties and belongings and to redistribute resources to the living. Mike had been encouraging the fledgling city government to recommend people move into X'd homes and create distinct, densely populated areas rather than having a few occupied homes scattered across many neighborhoods. It was easier to maintain services and patrol the city that way. Mayor Oliver was hesitant to take such steps, but Mike was hoping that by the time he got back he could win the guy over.

He watched the truck behind them in the side mirror. Although they only had thirty or so in their party, a mix of navy personnel and civilian volunteers, they had brought a lot of gear because they didn't know what they would encounter. People coming into St. Louis reported decent road conditions but highly variable experiences in the towns and cities along the way. Wolf was currently driving the vehicle behind them and Mike could see that the passengers were all singing along to whatever music they were playing. Even the President, sitting behind him and working on his speech with his new assistant, Betty Yin, had been in high spirits when they set out just after lunch. The only one looking glum was the driver beside him, humming along to some kind of blues music.

Slattery picked up the iPod. "Who the heck is Tab Benoit? Doesn't seem like your kind of music Green."

"It's not. It was Frankie's. He played guitar you know. Had this crazy idea we were going to move to Chicago and start a band when we retired. I tried to convince him we should go into death metal, but he insisted that we'd get more female fans as a blues act."

Mike noticed that Green turned the music down with the steering wheel controls. Sensing he was in the mood to talk, he turned a little in his seat. "That's a tough music scene, Chicago. My wife was in a cover band for a while when I was stationed at Great Lakes. Pretty sure we spent more money on it than she made."

He was a bit surprised when Green asked "Any chance she might be back in Chicago?" He'd avoided bringing up his family around anyone but Tom. They all had loved ones they were worried about and he didn't want anyone feeling like some people were getting more opportunities to find closure than others. Besides, a lot of people knew he'd been separated from his wife before they set sail last summer and they tended to avoid bringing it up too.

"I don't know. Honestly, she's wanted to move back there for fifteen years so, maybe? But I'm not getting my hopes up." It wouldn't do to tell the newly married man he was hoping not to find his own wife. He didn't want to feel obligated to be with her anymore, but he'd give anything to find his girls. "Maybe someone will know what happened to them though. I have two teenage daughters and I am spending a lot of early morning hours staring at the ceiling thinking of the terrible things I've seen."

"If they're anything like you sir, I'm sure they will have toughed it out."

Mike laughed. "One is like me. Emma, she's a bean pole. Vicious on the volleyball court. Smart too." When he thought of her he thought of scraped knees, ponytails, and big smiles. "She's always laughing that one. You cannot get her spirit down. God, I had to pull her aside and tell her to stop telling jokes at my mother's funeral because all the cousins kept bursting out laughing, and you know what she said?"

"What sir?' Green eyed him, probably wondering if he really wanted to know.

"She said people needed her to cheer them up. Said Gram would be horrified if I didn't let her fill that role. Like I said, she's a smart one, and only 16 now."

They were quiet for a while. Danny idly rhythmically tapped his thumb on the steering wheel in time to the barely audible music. It was 1600, the sun was setting on fields that had never been harvested. The soybeans and scraggly corn stalks that hadn't been plowed under were taking on a deep gold color. To Mike's mind, it seemed cruel to turn a prime example of the breakdown of society into such a beautiful vista.

"All that corn, and no one to eat it." Danny mumbled. "I wonder if we can salvage any of that."

Mike felt his lips twitch into a smile. "You do realize that's cow corn, right?"

Danny's brows pinched together. "Corn is corn, right?"

Mike couldn't help but laugh. "No, corn is not corn. That is nothing like the sweet corn you get at the store. I suppose it could be made into meal somehow, but it's also probably full of pests after a summer with no tending."

Danny looked out his side window and shrugged. "Where I come from, cows eat grass and hay. All this corn makes for a pretty boring landscape" Mike thought about that. Danny was from Connecticut. Other than a few weeks at Great Lakes he'd probably hardly spent much time in the center of the country.

"You've never been to Kansas, have you?"

"No, why?"

"Better get used to corn." They lapsed into silence as they passed by a few more miles. Every now and then there was a cross road that appeared to have some houses set a ways back from the highway but for the most part it was just field after field. Danny began fidgeting with the gear shift and Mike could see he was bored. "You remind me of my other daughter Green"

Danny's green eyes sparkled with humor when he responded. "Please, do explain how I remind you of a teenage girl."

"She fidgets. She gets bored on car rides. She's impatient and has a tendency to put her foot in her mouth."

Danny's mouth opened and then closed, as if he wasn't sure how to take that. Slattery wondered if he'd get angry. Although he'd seemed to mature over the last few months, the younger man still had a fairly impulsive streak in him. In that way he also reminded Mike of himself when he was younger. Finally Danny found his words. "What's her name Sir? Surely she has some good traits or you wouldn't miss her so much."

Ha, shows how much you know about parenting, Mike thought. He'd love her no matter what. He'd loved her even when she'd died her hair that awful green color her freshman year. He'd loved her even more when he'd heard her crying to her mother that she'd done it for school spirit, and now since she was stuck with it, she was going to own it. He'd loved her when she'd been kicked off the debate team. He really shouldn't support his daughter shouting obscenities at the opposing team's captain, but she had been chewing him out for using slut shaming arguments in a debate on abortion. He'd loved her when she'd refused to dissect her frog in eighth grade and when she proposed that for her Girlscouting capstone project she was going to start a petition to move the local polling place from a church basement to a public school building.

"Riley? Oh, she takes after her mother. A trouble maker if there ever was one." He smiled wryly to himself. "I'm telling you Green, you better hope you're having a boy because girls are crazy."

"I'm getting the sense you wouldn't change her though?"

"Of course not! We used to call her our Lucky Leprechaun because she was born on Saint Patrick's day and she has every bit of mischief in her just like a leprechaun. She wants to be a cop like I used to be, but she doesn't have the discipline. My guess is she'll end up a teacher or something else where being bossy and headstrong is an asset. Plus she's like 5 foot two, so I don't see her doing too well at the physical stuff. Although she does, or did, gymnastics. She's 17. If all this," he waved out the window to indicate the American wasteland, "hadn't happened, this road trip could have been a college tour."

"Kara's that small and I wouldn't wrestle with her in a dark alley." He could tell Green was trying to be helpful but he was missing the point.

"Riley isn't like Kara. She thinks she's tough but she's still just a baby." He shook out his shoulders. Was it just him, or was he starting to get old? "She's an adventurer though. I imagine wherever their mother has taken them, Riley is getting into trouble."

"I went to an all boys school sir, so excuse me if I don't know what kind of trouble teenage girls are likely to get into, besides the obvious."

Mike considered what he told Green a warning from parent to parent. "Oh well, not that kind of trouble for her. Nope, she's just always had a knack for getting in crazy situations. Ok, here's a good example of the kind of thing she does. My father and I restored a Mustang a few year before he passed." Mike thought fondly of sitting beside his Dad, driving that cherry red car, decked out in flags and garland, in the Memorial Day Parade a few years ago. His Dad, a Korean war vet, had been so proud that they could ride together. "A few days after she got her license she got arrested for drag racing in it. Drag racing! In a forty five year old car with no antilock brakes or airbags or anything!" He slammed a fist down on the car door. "You bring them into life and give them everything and they go out and practically try to tempt death."

"Did she win?" Green chuckled. How could he understand, Mike thought. Until you met that kid and realized you couldn't protect them from everything forever, there's no way to comprehend the magnitude of fear a parent can feel for their child.

The President joined in. "I had two daughters and a son." He leaned forward. "I agree with the Commander. Girls make you crazy wanting to protect them. But you can't and they can take care of themselves just as good as the boys anyways." Mike couldn't recall the president ever speaking about his children. For a moment he wasn't sure if he should ask for more details. He'd had the impression from something Chandler said that the topic of the President's children was off limits.

"I only have a boy so I have nothing to compare to." Betty Lin added in her soft, slightly accented voice. "You'll meet my son Lee when you start training the new recruits Green. He's a bit,,," She trailed off as if searching for the correct English word. "rambunctious one might say."

"I've already met him actually." Danny glanced in the rear view mirror. "Wolf brought him down to spar with a group of us. He was pretty impressed with his martial arts training."

Mike looked over his shoulder to see Betty nervously tugging the end of her long black braid over her shoulder. Only a few people knew that she wasn't just the President's personal assistant, but also his undercover security detail. He had no idea how Tex had known her before, but suffice to say, her skills were certainly welcomed.

"Well, I hope you'll whip some sense into him Lieutenant." She continued. "My late husband tried to teach him to use his skills responsibly, but he was a bit of a troublemaker in school."

The President nodded and Mike was surprised to see him pat her knee. "Don't worry. I've heard that's how a lot of young people end up in basic training and it seems to have a positive effect on most of them."

"Worked for me." Mike agreed, recalling what it had felt like, showing up on the first day, cocky, and sure of himself, uninterested in taking orders from anyone.

Danny sighed. "Well, Kara is convinced we're having a boy and nothing I say can convince her otherwise. She even went so far as to ask the hotel staff if we could paint our temporary lodgings blue."

Betty Lin laughed from the backseat. "Somehow I have the feeling that your wife could make sure it's a boy just by stubbornly insisting on it."

Danny laughed freely. "Stubborn. You've met her once and you have her pegged perfectly." Mike smiled to himself. The Greens were certainly still in the newlywed phase. It had been a long time since his wife had described his own stubborn tendencies with any hint of fondness.

Betty Lin continued "Yes, well the interview she put me through for this job was quite thorough. When Tex contacted me and offered me the job, I thought it was a done deal. We packed a truck and got to St. Louis from Norfolk as quickly as we could. When she sat me down and gave me that stern look, I thought I might as well keep the truck packed."

"Sorry, she doesn't mean to.."

Betty Lin interrupted. "With all do respect Lieutenant, you shouldn't get in the habit of making excuses for your wife. Besides, she is perfectly suited for her new role. I should probably say I was pleasantly surprised by the level of review she subjected me to. Make no mistake, that woman is one sharp cookie."

The radio crackled "Hey Burk, is this the exit for Springfield that you wanted to take?" Wolf's cheerful voice broke into their conversation.

"Yes, we're exiting in five miles everyone. We're stopping at a highschool about two miles off the highway. Green and I scouted this a few days ago but keep your eyes out for any signs of trouble anyway. I know we've been over this before but CO and I will follow Green in. Wolf and Miller, you'll provide cover. Cruz and Granderson will guard our backside. When we've cleared, Tex and Betty will bring in Mittens. Then everyone else can follow. We're expecting to meet a Sheriff Newsome and hopefully he's rounded up a few hundred to receive the cure."

Mike turned in his seat. "Mittens?" He could see that Michener was ducking his head, an embarrassed smile sneaking out above his collar. "Who thought of that?"

"That was all me." Tex drawled. "He's not bad ass enough to go by Wolverine."

Mike shook his head. Figures it was Tex. "And you're ok with this?"

Michener shrugged. "I used to have a retriever named Mittens. He looked like an ordinary dog but he was a damn fine hunting dog, gentle, trainable, intelligent, and loyal as all get out. I don't mind borrowing his name."

Betty Lin chuckled. "Mittens sounds like the name of a cat to me. How did he get that name?"

"He came with it. The kids picked him out at the pound. It did seem suiting though considering he had white front paws. He was kind of strange looking for a retriever but we always figured he was a bit of a mutt." The more Mike thought about it, the better he liked Michener's code name. They were crawling through some slushy snow so even thought the exit was near, he knew he had time for his thoughts to wander, wondering what had happened to his own dog, a gentle and dignified Irish Setter, or Christine's rotund little Corgi. There had been no sign of them at his house, but that didn't mean they had been taken into a safe zone.

The exit came into view and the red lights of the truck in front kicked him out of his reverie. He could see a cluster of gas stations and hotels, dark and empty looking. Mike double checked the M-40 laid across his knees. It had been a long time since he had done this kind of work, but he liked the way his blood was pumping in anticipation and his senses felt on high alert. Beside him he could tell Green felt the same. Springfield, Decatur, Champaign, Bloomington, Peoria, Aurora, Chicago proper, Gary, Lafayette, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Detroit-Windsor, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis. He ran the list through his head. It would sure be one hell of a dash. The President planned to spread the cure and re-establish a government presence in one giant sweep through the Midwest. Chandler and Green had both argued for a shorter trip to Chicago and back as a first foray, but Michener had been insistent. "We need to act fast and be seen as responsive to the needs of the people. This route takes the cure to the most people in the shortest amount of time." Before they stepped out Mike took a deep breath. Like it or not, Tom was backing this horse and it was time to make things happen.


	10. Chapter 10 - Fine Little Mama

I just totally had a bad Mama moment. I was watching an excellent episode of Nova (School's of the Future, Lavar Burton narrated and it was really good.) with my kids and husband after dinner. The youngest went in the bathroom all by herself. That's kind of a big deal but she said she could do it ll by herself and they say you should never do something for your kids that they can do for themselves...and I was full of dinner and feeling lazy, so I kept watching. It's really an excellent episode all about how parental involvement can really change the educational future for kids. They were talking about a therapy program very similar to one we had done with our eldest years ago so I was totally congratulating myself on my parenting in that moment. I mean, I had my kids (ok, the one who wasn't pooping) willingly watching PBS and talking about school and learning. (Plus they actually ate their vegetables tonight.) I was totally rocking the mom thing...Until the youngest proudly emerged from the bathroom, naked, and with little brown handprints on her belly and legs. Apparently she got tired of calling me to come help her. My punishment for being a bad mama...bathtime, with bubbles, and washing down the entire bathroom with bleach wipes. Since tomorrow is Friday and my boss is out of town, I think the rest of tonight is a box wine night.

**Fine Little Mama, Egglemore James**

Kara was sitting at her new desk in the outer part of Chandler's office suite when Val rushed in. Her reddish dreads frizzed around her head like some kind of halo and she was out of breath. "Is he in? I need to talk to him ASAP." There was a wild look in her eyes.

Kara looked up from her computer. The alarm in Val's voice was unmistakable. "He's gone down to talk to Master Chief and then he's headed to the President's office." She kept her voice calm and measured, the way she tried to handle urgent issues in the C.I.C.. It had been drilled into her all her life, by her father and then her instructors, that high emotions impaired decision making ability. "Is this an emergency or can it wait until this afternoon?"

Val peered through the connecting door to Chandler's office but Kara knew that all she would see was the bright morning sun flooding in through the windows that faced out to the river. "I.." She trailed off, unsure now that her first reaction had been halted.

Kara grabbed a notebook. "Can you just tell me what it is?"

The other woman looked suspicious, as if she wasn't sure she should be talking with Kara. Kara had a general idea what Val had been tasked with working on so she tried another tactic. Lowering her voice she asked "Is this about the mysterious emails that passed through our supposedly secure satellite the day the group left?"

Val's head shot up and her eyes met Kara's. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the outer door which was open to the stairwell before leaning in closer. "You know about that?"

Kara tried to appear calm but her heart began to beat faster. What she knew was that someone had transmitted the locations of two different presidential appearances, one in Decatur and one in Peoria, almost immediately after the special teams had arrived in each location. The timing meant that the mole was likely someone on the special teams or in the group of civilians tasked with spreading the cure, and that was a very small group. They knew the message was being directed toward California, but they didn't know who was getting it or why. They really didn't know the content of the message either, as it was encoded, but the coordinates were easy enough to decipher. The message repeated over and over and over but each repeat was slightly different, leading Kara to suppose it was the work of a fairly sophisticated operative.

Kara nodded toward the door to Chandler's office. "Yes, I do. Come in here a minute."

The two women retreated to the inner office and Kara shut the door. "I know just about everything that goes on around here. It was part of my job on ship to integrate information and help Chandler make tactical decisions. Have you discovered something new?" Ever since Chandler had discussed the leak with her earlier this week she had been going over and over in her head who it could be. Burk was the only senior officer who had any service history in the Pacific fleet but she had a hard time believing he was involved. Besides, she knew his training and he didn't really have the computer skills to pull off sending encrypted messages. Danny might have the skills, he surprised her with new talents all the time, but she couldn't imagine what motive he would have to betray the president. Besides, it would break her heart if it was him. Wolf might very well have had the skills to encrypt a message but he shouldn't be able to access a secure U.S. network to send a message. On and on she questioned who it could be and worried for Danny and the rest of the people accompanying the president.

Val flopped into one of Chandler's guest chairs. "Is anyone involved in the special teams fluent in any kind of Native American languages like Hopi or Ute?"

A furrow appeared between Kara's brows as she recalled what she did know about their backgrounds. "Not that I know of. We're almost all from the East Coast, being the Atlantic Fleet and all. Have you figured out that the messages are in Hopi or something like that? Is this like the WWII code talkers via internet?"

Val nodded. "Well, sort of. I've been down at the library doing my best to figure out what language it is and there are a few words that are from the Uto-Aztecan family of languages. At first I thought it was a coincidence but both messages have one identifiable word in each sentence and the rest is just gobbldy gook as far as I can tell. She drew a wrinkled piece of paper from the pocket of her fraying canvas jacket. "This is what I have so far." The two women leaned over the table and examined the paper. Two neat columns were transcribed. Each contained mostly nonsense words and a few numbers.

"So none of these other words match any known languages?" Kara tapped the paper with her finger.

Val shook her head glumly. "Well, I can't say that. But I have tested 162 currently spoken languages and the only matches of any kinds are the Native American words and of course the coordinates are real places."

Kara suddenly missed the days when she could just put something into Google and see what came up. "Can I make a copy of this? I will keep it locked in the office here, but I'd like to puzzle over it, see if I can come up with something." The other woman looked unsure for a moment prompting Kara to continue. "I swore an oath to protect and defend my country, that includes our president. You have my word that I am not the mole. Besides, it will help me feel useful in my new capacity."

Val was quick to back peddle. "Oh, no. I never suspected you. It's just that I don't want to burden you. You must have your hands full getting ready for the baby and all."

Kara took the paper to the small copier against the wall of her own office. "Well actually, once I leave here in the evenings I am pretty much left to my own devices. Danny is traveling with the President to Chicago right now, another reason you can trust me that I am not giving away his location. Garnett is working round the clock to get the ship back in shape so she's actually still living on it. My bestie Alisha, as you know, is also gone. So I go down to the officer's mess and then up to my room. In the evenings I workout and that's about it. Most of the people I worked with on the ship are too busy and we're a bit spread out now so there isn't much chance for socializing."

"Funny, Alisha was saying something about that the day before they left. She and I are the only women working over in the Deloitte building so far, and she pointed out how the people coming to the market seemed happier than people used to be before the Red Flu. She figured it was all the time to socialize now that the 9 to 5 rat race has been interrupted. We need to plan a girl's night or something.

Kara thought back to her last girl's night in Norfolk, the one where she'd ended up meeting Danny. It felt like it was ages ago instead of just months. "I would totally be up for that. So far the bars that are open seem a little…"

"Rough?" Val suggested. She waggled her eyebrows. "I thought you Navy chicks could handle that?"

"Ha. We'd like to think we can but after sucking it up all day, I just want to bop around and dance…" Her stomach growled loudly "…and eat. This baby likes to eat." She giggled and patted her waist as if she could soothe the baby from the outside. She liked Val and she had seen that Val and Alisha had something. Maybe they were edging towards a relationship or maybe they would just be friends. Either way, she figured she might as well be friendly with Val. Despite the fact that she had started working for the other side, Val had been a huge help in stopping the immunes and she was turning into a great colleague as the mission moved forward now as well.

Val watched her action with a bit of a wistful expression. "What's it like feeling the baby? I mean, what does it feel like from the inside?"

Kara reached out and took her hand. "Here. See for yourself." She placed the other woman's hand on her belly, just above the waistline of her pants. The baby rolled and Val's eyes flew wide.

"Was that it? Was it the baby?" Beneath her own hand, Kara could feel Val's slender fingers shaking.

"Yeah, he gets restless this time of day." The baby thumped against Val's hand. "See, he likes you." She had only been feeling the baby move for about two weeks herself and it still took her breath away too. That was her baby, a whole other person, right there inside her. Sometimes the awe of it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Whoa, that's so cool." Val's voice continued to hold a wistful note. "I've always wanted children but now that we barely have a hospital for people to go to if we've got some terrible disease, I don't know that that option is really open for people like me anymore." Kara didn't comment, just nodded with a pressed smile, but she recalled the complicated plan of hormone injections and donor sperm Alisha and Sarah had been planning before the Red Flu struck. A little bit of guilt gripped the back of her throat for a second. Here she was going to have a baby without even trying.

"Alicia always wanted kids. Sometimes I think it's crazy that me, the least prepared person to be a mother, is having this baby."

Val didn't say anything, just stood there chewing her lip and jumping each time Flutter gave her a good kick. After a minute Val removed her hand, blushing to her already red roots. "Sorry, I just realized how weird it must be for you to have a practical stranger standing here in your office rubbing your belly."

Kara smiled and made sure she met Val's eyes. Although she suspected they were the same age, she sometimes felt the other woman hadn't yet fully come into herself as an adult yet. "Yeah, it's weird, but I'm cool with it. You know Alisha is my best friend so I am hoping you and I won't be strangers."

"Thanks Kara. We should definitely plan that girl's night then." She folded up her paper and placed it back in her pocket. "And thanks for taking a look at this. Can you fill Chandler in when he gets back and let him know that I am heading back to my office to keep working on it. I have a few contacts who might be able to help me with tracing the routing."

Kara saw the other woman out and then sat with a smile. She should be worried about a possible spy but instead she was thinking that all she needed now was for Danny to get come home and she'd be on cloud nine.


	11. Chapter 11 - Train Is Coming

I am soooo behind on posting and I heartily apologize. I have been drafting away and I finally told myself it was time to go back and edit a few chapters to post. NaNoWriMo starts in 5 days so my goal is to get the next two chapters posted before then so that this segment is buttoned up before I go underground for another month. Anyhow, I m traveling today (for work-nothing fun) so I had a little quiet time time this evening to fix this chapter up. I hope you enjoy it.

**Train is Coming, Henry Townsend**

The oppressive silence in her hotel room had driven Kat down to the dining room, where at least the background noises of the kitchen staff kept up a steady rhythm of clinks and dings and cuss words. She had a spiral bound notebook, a set of colored gel pens, and a cup of coffee spread before her. She had come down this afternoon determined to finish her current book even if she had to write it out on paper. Two days ago she'd made a disappointing search of her father's room which had revealed that he had taken her mother's laptop with him on the President's trip. She had however collected a nice Ka-Bar, a GPS tracker, and a thermal camera adapter. She had no idea if they would ever be useful, but that wasn't the point. Her dad had left her with nothing to do so she might as well start learning the family business. It had only taken a few hours to learn how to use the tracker and camera. With no internet or TV the only other thing she had to do was go to PT in the morning and work on her writing.

Unfortunately, she was finding herself stuck questioning her heroine's choice to leave her family and search the world in a quest for a magical fountain. Right now she kept seeing her character as terribly lonely and her triumphant discovery of the fountain on top of a Tibetan mountain as a depressing and anticlimactic finale. She had spent half an hour nibbling the end of her pen and wondering if she needed to introduce a sidekick or friend, or even make the nemesis someone closer. Every time she stopped to day dream and see if her latest idea produced an interesting story, she started to see Ray with his stupid hair falling over one flashing eye. It didn't help that her ears seemed extra tuned to his voice, which right now was telling a little girl to drink all her milk so that she would grow up big and strong.

"Kat Nolan, just the young woman I'm looking for!" Kara slid into the chair next to where Kat was camped out at the far end of the room.

Unbending the knee she had tucked underneath her as she wrote she looked up at Foster-Green in surprise. "Me?"

Kara nodded and pulled out a folder. "I am wondering if I could ask you to help with a small task?"

Kat smiled. She would be thrilled to have something purposeful to do, even if it meant setting aside her writing. "As long as it's not something gross, I'm game."

"Well, I need someone to quietly mingle with the kids associated with our presence here in St. Louis and make some inquiries." Kara glanced over to the noisy group of orphans by the soda machines. "Do you think you could do that?"

Kat wasn't able to hide her surprise. "Um, I think you have the wrong Nolan. You know my Dad's the one that has these kinds of skills, I'm just a kid." She was curious what Kara needed though. She'd certainly imagined becoming a jetsetting spy more than once as a kid. After all, her mother was always telling her these crazy stories about when her parents were young.

"Well, this is a job for someone trustworthy and young. No special skills required." Kara patted her hand. "You were the first person that came to mind."

"I don't exactly hang out with anyone but I could probably make a few friends, ask around." She was curious what Kara was looking for. What could a bunch of kids know that Kara couldn't just go ask them herself. She'd probably intimidate the heck out of them in hr fancy uniform. She did work directly with Chandler after all. And from what she heard, Ray thought the man walked on water. "What do you want to find out?"

Kara lowered her voice. "I need to know if anyone speaks any of the Uto-Aztecan languages."

Kat set down her coffee cup and quickly busied her hands with her pen. She had been expecting Kara to say she wanted to know who their parents were or where they had been before St. Louis, or maybe if any of them had any ties to any Immunes. "Aztec languages? Do those even exist?" She pulled her notebook closer and opened a fresh page, looking at Kara expectantly.

Kara nodded. "According to Wikipedia, it's a group of Western Native American languages. It includes Hopi, Ute, Pima Papagayo. It would be useful to find out if any of the kids have ties to those Native American groups, even if they don't speak the language." Kat got a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"That's a weird thing to be looking for. Why do you need to know that?" She saw Kara's eyes flick around the room. Then she leaned even closer. "You've heard about the MCF, right, the group trying to form a new country out of the historically Mexican territories?" Kat nodded. Everyone was talking about it and the President hadn't said what they were going to do about it yet. "Well, someone is sending out coded messages about the president's travel and locations and the language is part of the key to the code."

The strange feeling in Kat's stomach turned to a hard knot. "You think one of the kids is spying for the MCF?" She glanced over at the group of teens joking and laughing by the drink machines. Suddenly the dinning room felt a little less safe. What good reason could there be for passing information to the MCF?

Kara shook her head. "Actually, I am not sure they are sending their info to the MCF per say, but someone is spying and sharing inside information. We don't think they are simply using a dictionary to get the words. We've checked the web traffic and no one has accessed any likely sources. This is coming from a computer outside our network too."

Kat studied her notes intently. "Is Paiute one of the languages you're looking for?" Her pulse beat in her ears as she waited for Kara's response.

Kara's hazel eyes swung sharply in her direction. "Yes! How did you know?"

Oh this was bad. Potentially really bad. These people had given her the cure, given them safety against the Immunes. Kat met Kara's eyes with what she hoped was convincing sincerity. "Oh, I didn't really know, but I'm actually from Nevada. I remembered that the Hopi and Paiute are somehow related from a 9th grade school field trip."

"Nevada huh? I just assumed you were from Texas." Kara was watching the kids play a rowdy card game again. "Well see what you can find out. Someone is helping the MCF and if we can figure out who they are, they can lead us to the culprit." After a second she turned back to Kat. "How come you're not over there with them in the first place?"

Kat shrugged. She couldn't exactly tell Kara that she'd made a fool of herself with the group's leader the other day, could she? "I don't really know them. They seem so close and I'm totally an outsider. And they haven't invited me to hang out so it would be rude to insinuate myself."

"And you're over here doing homework while they are having fun?" Kat watched as Ray tugged a younger girl's braid and leaned over to view her cards and offer some advice.

Kat laughed and lifted the edge of her notebook. "Homework? No, I haven't done any in months. I'm writing. I used to post fanfiction with my friends for fun. But, with civilian computers locked out of the internet right now, I'm just writing for me."

"Making up stories? Yeah, I'd say Tex is your dad for sure." A giggle escaped Kat in response but died suddenly when Kara reached one hand over the table and snapped the notebook shut.

"Hey!"

Kara raised a dark brow at her. "You won't find anything out over here. Come on, I'll pay you in internet access if you figure out who it is." That was tempting. Commander Green probably had access to better networking than anyone else around here right now.

Then again, Kat didn't really need to find anything out from those kids. She had a feeling she knew exactly who was sending those messages and they didn't need some teens to teach them Native American languages either. But internet access would be great. "I'll go over after Bigmouth leaves." She nodded toward where Ray was now acting out some kind of story for a younger kid.

Kara followed her gaze. "Who Ray? He's harmless. Actually, he's probably a good person to pump for info. Danny says he's very smart, but impulsive. That's the kind of person you can egg into telling you useful things."

Kat rolled her eyes the way her mother would have tsked her for. She got away with a lot more these days. After all, her dad had always been good at keeping them fed and clothed and safe but he'd rarely been there to actually parent her, so why start now? "Well, he's also an ass so..."

Kara shoved her chair back. "I'm going to pretend you said yes Ma'am. I'll see what I can find out...and head on my way. Just go over there, go with the flow, and see what you can learn. They are a good bunch of kids." She patted the round spot beginning to protrude against her shirt. "Flutter is hungry so I'll see you later. Come find me when you've had a chance to do some probing." Kat watched her walk away and sighed. She'd better figure out what to do. The kids were picking up plates and cups to bus their table. And older boy was asking Ray something and he pointed toward the river. She wondered if they were actually staying on the ship. She supposed asking them could be her opening move.

She gathered her things into her worn school knapsack. Funny, she'd never thought she would miss school before the Red Flu hit. But right now, she'd give anything for simple assignments and a regular daily schedule. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kara motioning for her to go over to the kids. She'd do it so that Kara was happy, but when her father got back from Chicago, he was going to have to owe her, big time.

She hurried into the line with her dirty coffee cup in hand. She was between one of Ray's obnoxious cronies and a girl who was probably a year or two younger than her. "She tapped the girl on the shoulder. "Uh, Hi. I'm Kat." She stuck out her hand and the girl looked at her like she was offering to transmit the flu to her. Guess they were all pretty used to going their own way these days. She put her hand back in her pocket. "Uh, I saw your group and I was wondering if you guys had any fun plans for this afternoon? I've been spending my days in my hotel room and I really need to be around people again."

The other girl's eyes widened in interest. "You live in the hotel?"

Kat saw her chance to make a connection. "Yeah, my Dad is Tex, Tex Nolan, he was on the Nathan James and then..."

"We know Tex! Wow, you must be badass!" The girl looked over her shoulder to Ray before answering. "I think Ray said we were supposed to go join the cleaning crew a few blocks away."

"Cleaning crew?" Kat had no idea what they were talking about.

"Yeah, you know, Chandler said that until school opens or they start taking recruits, everyone over 15 has to do four hours of service a day. I saw you at the wedding party so I know you've been here longer than us. Don't you have a job?"

She supposed she hadn't heard about this because she wasn't intending to become a service member and also because her dad had kept her relatively shielded so far. She thought of what Kara had said. Just go with the flow. "Yeah, I help out Commander Foster-Green with paperwork and stuff."

"Cool. I'm Brie and.."

They were interrupted by Ray. "So, the Princess has a cushy desk job while we peasants have to get our hands dirty. Figures." He looked her straight in the eye as he said it, a sneer on his lips.

Go with the flow. Go with the flow, she reminded herself. "Uh, yeah well my Dad is a good friend of the Greens so..." She didn't know where she was going with this and really, why did she feel the need to respond to such a jerk? She stopped and turned back to the girl, giving the handshake a second try. "Hi again Brie. Anyway, I need to do something other than stare at the computer screen all day. Can I join you?"

Brie seemed to consider it while she deposited hr dishes on the table near the kitchen. "Yeah that would be fine. We're cleaning out some apartments. Nothing too heavy. We just sanitize the bathrooms, clean the fridges, that kind of thing."

"Now wait a minute Brie." Ray interjected himself into the conversation and slid between Kat and Brie again. "I'm the head of this crew and I don't think we need any more people. We've only got enough gloves and goggles for the six of us."

Brie was having none of it though. She cocked a hand on her hip and spat right back. "Well, Bossman Ray, if Kat comes along, she can keep the littles from messing around with stuff while we're working and then we'll get more done and get apartments of our own that much sooner." She linked arms with Kat. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest."

Kat quickly decided that Kara was right. They were a good group of kids. There were fifteen of them altogether and they took her with them in a noisy bubble of conversations on top of conversations that reminded her of holidays with her cousins back home. They went to a building a few blocks away. The first floor had large stone columns that made her think of a bank or post office or something but the upper floors looked like offices or apartments. Navy people were swarming in and out the doors carrying items in and out.

Brie explained what was going on. "The President decided to start repurposing the federal properties in St. Louis for his administration. This cluster used to be some historic buildings rented out as apartments, but since the government owns them, and he wants to put them to use, we're helping clean them out." Kat immediately had visions of rotting bodies and gave an involuntary shudder. She'd tried to sleep in a shopping center in Greenville on the way to Memphis only to find three half decomposed bodies in the first store she entered. The stench seemed to pervade the entire place. "Don't worry, the Navy people are taking care of anything gross before we get in." Brie read her mind.

"So you work here part of the day and then go back to the ship at night?" Kat figured she had better keep the conversation rolling if she hoped to learn anything. They were herding the kids up the stairs.

"No, we're in the Hyatt, across the square. So far, everyone interested in joining the military also does PT in the morning and Lieutenant Burk does a Naval science class with them after dinner. Otherwise we just hang out and keep the littles out of trouble." They arrived at a hall with six doors and Brie motioned to the first two apartments. "We finished these two yesterday. That one on the right has some board games in the closet. If you can keep the kids out of our hair, we can probably get the rest done today."

Kat surveyed the eight non-working kids. So much for gathering intel. "Sure." She told Brie, even though she didn't know the first thing about babysitting. She hustled the kids into the apartment. It had been sanitized of belongings like photos and clothing but it was still strangely personal to enter someone's apartment. It was a nice two bedroom, two bathroom with large floor to ceiling windows in the main living space and a modern kitchen. It had old creaky wooden floors and real tile in the bathroom. Although she'd lived most of her life in a very nice modern stuccoed ranch, her home had never had this kind of warm character. It reminded her of her grandmother's farm back in Nevada more than it did a city apartment. She wondered if her Dad was interested in moving out of the hotel. Running her hand over the well used butcher block island she though she'd have to tell him about these apartments. Maybe as a veteran he could get a pass to the front of the line.

In the end, she found out that little kids were actually a font of information. She heard the entire story of how they were at a summer camp in Florida when people started getting sick. Right away counselors and staff started leaving to find their families and parents came to get their kids. "And then the only counselors left were Ray and Colin. Ray kept us safe. He was brave when we were scared." A little girl about 8 with curly pigtails and thick glasses informed her with starstruck eyes. They told her all about meeting the Nathan James and then leaving again, only to find out the people who agreed to take them in really couldn't help them either. "That's when Ray said we were coming here. To be with good people." Several little girls nodded. Kat had to bite back a smile at their obvious hero worship.

"I'd say you were all brave." She told them. They created a board game tournament out of Sorry, Parcheesi and Yatzee and she settled in, hoping for a chance to talk more with Brie and Ray afterwards.

Two hours later the kids were bored and getting hungry. "Do you usually have an afternoon snack?" She supposed she could see if anything was in the kitchen cupboards. She was surprised when they all opened their packs to reveal all sorts of food. It looked like they had been hording it. One girl had dinner rolls from lunch wrapped in paper napkins. Another pulled out an entire jar of jam she had swiped from the breakfast table.

"Do you always carry this much food?" She asked with dismay.

The girl with the pigtails nodded, mouth full of bread. "Ray says that we have to keep three meals and four water bottles in our go bags all the time, just in case." Her heart hurt just hearing it. They were just kids!

"Well, you're here in the new capital now." She tried to reassure them. "The President won't let us starve. You can probably stop carrying so much around." They stared back at her like she had just told them she was an alien from Mars.

A little boy with curly red hair shook his head. "If Ray says three days, we do three days." As they sat in a circle on the living room floor eating jam and bread Kat perused the media collection under the TV. Based on the options, she figured whoever had lived here was older. Most of the movies were old Westerns. Finally she found something kid appropriate and asked the kids if they wanted to watch an old movie. They looked confused. "No TV or internet signals anymore." One kid grumbled.

Kat couldn't believe it when she heard her inner voice snipe back "Kids these days!" Was she really that much older? She selected three tapes and held them up. "Actually, we can use the VCR." She proceeded to wow them by working the old technology. Pretty soon they were glued to the screen, wondering what E.T. was and how he would get home.

She wandered the rest of the apartment wondering what the people who lived here before were like. Did they have pets? She looked in a few cupboards and found some non-perishables but no pet food. They had fancy cookware though and she thought that maybe if she came back tomorrow she could get some ingredients from the hotel kitchen and bake something with the kids. She wandered into the 1st bedroom and perused the books on the shelves. She recognized many of the books from her high school reading lists. Maybe one of the former residents was a teacher. There were more tapes next to the bedroom TV. She picked one up "St. Louis V" and wondered if it was a home movie. Just out of curiosity she stuck it in the VCR. Searching around for the remote she opened the night table drawer. At first she didn't quite comprehend what she was looking at. Several brightly colored objects filled the drawer. She was about to pick one up when it suddenly clicked that they were sex toys. She shoved the drawer closed and sat on the edge of the bed. One hand over her mouth, containing a giggle. Her image of the apartment's last residents as a pair of retired schoolteachers made it all the more jarring to find furry handcuffs in their bedside drawer.

She was about to get up to leave the room when the video began playing. The screen was dark but she could see someone was moving. She tilted her head to figure out what she was looking at when suddenly she realized it was a couple dancing, in this very room, in the nude. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire as she scrambled to her feet to turn off the VCR only to realize it must have started on autoplay as she couldn't find a remote anywhere. "Shit on a shingle!" Her mother would not have approved. The man had sat the woman down on the edge of the bed, right where she had just been sitting, ewww! Fortunately the soundtrack was some kind of dubbed over music. She scanned the bookshelves frantically looking for a remote. She checked the other bedside drawer. All that was in there was a giant box of condoms, a gun, and some pens and pencils. She was down on her hands and knees looking under the bed when she heard a soft laugh behind her.

"Wow, I'm not sure which view is the best, out the windows, the movie or…""

She pulled herself to her feet, scowling in Ray's general direction. "Save it. I didn't know it was that kind of movie. I though it was a travel film about St. Louis so I put it in hoping it might have ideas for things to do." She shoved a hank of chestnut hair that had fallen over her eyes back toward her messy bun.

"Looks like it has great ideas for things to do." He grinned and winked at her.

Kat fought the urge to throw something at him. "Ewwwww, gross. No help me find the stupid remote." She could hear Brie and the others in the living room. "And shut the damn door before one of those kids comes in."

He shut the door and then flopped back onto the bed, leaving his feet hanging over the side. "Oh so you want to watch it in private then?"

"No you jerk. I want you to help me figure out how to turn it off!"

She huffed and marched around the bed to study the TV, looking for a power button and trying hard not to look at the man and woman bent over the bed now. "Hey! As much as I like your ass, you're blocking the view of one with less clothing."

She frantically pulled open the drawers on the TV stand but they were just filled with more tapes. "Knock it off Ray and help me look for the frickin remote before one of those kids gets an early education and we get blamed for it!"

"Frickin? Seriously Kat, no one is going to write you up for swearing anymore." He swung his legs at the knees. "But I can't help you. My feet hurt from four hours of carrying boxes. I'm going to sit here for 20 minutes and not do anything. And besides, I want to watch it. Lock the door if you're worried. And if you don't want to see it, go out."

"Oh honey, I swear it's getting bigger!" The woman on the video cooed at her lover from behind Kat. It was so corny that while she might have been curious if she was by herself, she had no desire to watch, discuss, or even think about anything remotely sexual while Ray was in the room. She cringed and stepped in front of the screen just in case one of the kids came in.

"And seriously, move out of the way. All I can see are your red cheeks and they aren't the kind of cheeks I want to see." He laughed at himself and tried to angle around her.

If possible, Kat blushed even more. "You are such a loser Ray." She huffed and reached for the phone in her pocket. "Maybe I should call Lieutenant Nishioka and see what he thinks abo…"

Ray shot to his feet and lunged for the phone in her hand. "Jesus Kat. There's no need to be such a virginal prude. I was just teasing you." He wrapped his hand over hers to keep her from dialing. "I don't really want to watch some old people getting it on. It was just fun to see you getting so embarrassed and flustered about it." Still holding her hand, he leaned past her and pulled the cord form the wall. "All you had to do is unplug it."

They'd never really touched before. Sure, he'd grabbed her hand when they were walking the other morning and they'd brushed shoulders in passing, but this was different, it was deliberate, and in a closed room. And she realized with a start, she was standing there staring at him holding her hand with a dopey stunned look on her face. "Ah, um, of course." She stepped back, twisting her hand free of his. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."

She felt slightly better to see a tinge of pink show behind Ray's freckled cheeks. "Come on. I overheard two of the petty officers talking and apparently tomorrow we're going to start working on cleaning up a school. There will probably be tons of good stuff to entertain the kids with."

Grateful to escape the scene of her mortification, she wrenched open the door. "What makes you think I'm coming back to work with your kids tomorrow?" When she looked back over her shoulder Ray was grinning.

"Aw come on Nolan. You don't want to disappoint little Luna, do you?" He was right. She did feel bad for these kids. As far as they knew they were all orphans. They'd seen friends, siblings, and counselors die; practically starved to death; been taken advantage of by the immunes; and had to flee their supposed safe haven in the middle of the night. As she walked out into the main living area she took in the boisterous group laughing as they told Brie and Dylan what had happened during the day. On the other hand, they had something she didn't really have right now, family.

Luna looked up from where she was holding her ponytails over her chin. "Look Ray! Look what Kat taught me to do! Now I have a better beard than you!" She laughed freely and realized that she hadn't thought about her father, or Kara's mystery message, or the friends she missed from home for several hours. Fine, she could admit that she would be back tomorrow and probably the day after that. Because if there was anything she had learned these last few months, it was that you shouldn't pass up on good times when you find them.


	12. Chapter 12 - Ain't No Way

**Ain't No Way, Beth Hart**

Mike stood as the Michener and Betty entered the class room at Great Lakes that they were using as a temporary mission planning center. "Sir, Tex just radioed in. Burk and Green's teams have secured all the locations and I thought we should go over the plan." He always felt slightly nervous addressing the President directly, although so far the President had been nothing but positive about their mission. He might make changes, but he would do so in the utmost professional manner.

"Excellent work Commander." They took seats near the blackboard where Mike had drawn a quick sketch of a map and listed the stops. It was strange to think that here was the president of the United States sitting at a student desk in a cinderblock classroom. "Proceed."

"This afternoon you have a quick meeting with the people from Abbot labs, just down the road. Betty, they want you to bring that temporary contract we talked about and they said they would get started on the manufacturing tonight." She patted her briefcase. He knew there was a loaded gun in there, in addition to whatever papers she carried. But as far as anyone could tell, Betty was just a highly capable secretary.

The President smiled. "And they say they can distribute beyond Chicago?"

"Well Sir, they are going to give it a try. I think they are going to want to negotiate security and support for transportation." He was relieved when the president nodded. Mike would much rather let the professionals do the negotiating and stick to the enforcing himself. "Before that meeting we need you to give a brief radio broadcast inviting people to come to tomorrow's events for the cure. Mason and Granderson are setting up for that right now."

"Betty, copy down the list from the board so I can read it off during the broadcast. I want this to be about getting people to these events and not any kind of political statement. We can do that tomorrow."

She tapped her pad with her pencil. "Already on it."

Mike continued. "As I said before, after the broadcast it's the Abbott labs people. Then we will ferry you downtown to meet with city government. There is going to be a news team at City Hall for a second advertising opportunity."

"Tomorrow you'll give a 10 AM speech at Wriggly Field with the mayor. Tex, Betty, Burk, and myself will serve as your personal guard while Green, Miller and Cruz will be set up to watch the perimeter. I was able to make some contacts within Chicago PD this morning and they will be able to staff about 25 officers for the day as well. Then we will spend two hours meeting and greeting there. After that you will have lunch at the Hyatt. At two PM you will tour Mercy Hospital, it's very close by sir, followed by an evensong service at Trinity Episcopal next door. You'll have a dinner with the Bishop there who has gathered civilians to receive the cure and spread it around the US. At 8 PM you will appear at Soldier field for a second speech. I'm sorry it will be a very late night. We hope to be back on the road by 10 PM and will stop for the night in Gary with a late morning event there."

"Well, it will be a busy day but I think a good one Mike." Michener jotted some notes on his pad and Mike calmly looked out the window as he waited to be dismissed or for the president to get up. Mike also had meetings scheduled for the entire afternoon to discuss recruiting and training efforts here in Chicago. The mayor had indicated that there was still a significant National Guard presence in the city as well as an Army brigade that had showed up a few months ago. Mike had to pass on Michener's one country, one service orders to them as diplomatically as possible. With pay being food, lodging, and medical care, there wasn't much for the different branches to fight over anyway.

After a few minutes of low murmurs with Betty, the President caught his eye. "I have two changes I want to make."

Mike trusted they were reasonable but he dreaded the hassle. He tried to keep his face impassive as he said "Ok"

"I heard you in the car. Put someone else on my guard tonight so you can look for your family."

His heart leapt into his throat. He had worried for the last 4 days as they made contacts and worked out this itinerary that he wouldn't have the chance. Still he felt honor bound to protest. "But Sir..."

The President held up a hand. "I believe this is called pulling rank Commander. As your Commander in Chief I am ordering you to spend a few hours at least checking in with people you knew here and trying to find your family. And find a newly contagious citizen to take with you. Call it a mission of goodwill if it makes you feel better."

Mike hung his head to his chest for a minute. He couldn't argue now. "Very well. I'll make arrangements."

Four hours later he was sitting on the front steps of his old apartment building. He hadn't expected everything in Chicago to go great but he'd hoped a few things would go well. First off the Abbot folks had insisted they needed some molecule only manufactured in Albuquerque of all places. As if they could just snap their fingers and get something from deep inside MCF territory just because they were the government. Then he'd tried going to his old precinct and talked to some former colleagues there. Between the years he'd been back in the Navy and then the Red Flu, not many people he'd known were left. Still, a young dispatcher had the forethought to start a database of people looking for people. She'd looked for their names and had come up empty handed. He hadn't been expecting them to be there really. Ever since the day he'd found his daughter's sweatshirt abandoned in Deer Park, he'd assumed the worst. Still, it hurt. He'd been running on fumes for months now, thinking at some point it would be worth it because he'd either find his girls or have some closure. But, maybe even that was too much to hope for.

He closed his eyes and hung his head, listening to the neighborhood around him. He and his wife had lived in this building until right before his oldest was born, nearly 18 years ago, and it still looked exactly the same with the same curtains in the lower windows and bikes chained to the fences around the basement stair railings. The six story brick building was nearly identical to those around it and across the street but he'd recognized it immediately. He'd walked from the precinct offices. This neighborhood was not being patrolled or maintained and this street hadn't been plowed either. Farther down the street there were abandoned cars and tipped over trash cans. It was a chilly forty degrees and he felt the steam from his breath roll over his eye lids with each heavy breath. There were none of the city sounds he remembered from all those years ago.

The newly vaccinated civilian, Paul, sat stiffly next to him. On the way over the portly man had explained that he had done four years enlisted in the Army but mostly all he'd done was peel potatoes and wash dishes. Now he was an opthamologist. He had lost his wife to cancer a year ago and saw no reason not to travel the country to spread the cure. "I suppose we ought to ring some more doorbells, shake some hands, while I'm here." Said the man.

Mike nodded and lifted his gun but didn't get up. There hadn't been any response at at the door behind him but someone had shoveled the steps of this building and the one opposite and there were several parking spaces with bare pavement showing that they had been used recently. Paul stepped off the curb and crunched his way to the nearly identical building across the street. He banged on the door and held up a yellow CDC box, just the way they had trained. "Hello? We're here to offer you the cure."

Mike thought he saw one of the curtains in an upper window twitch. Paul banged and called out again. After a few minutes he shrugged. "I guess they get a sticker Sir." He laid the case on the stone sidewall of the stoop and opened it to remove a sticker. He tugged off a glove with his teeth and used his bare fingers to peel off the backing and carefully stick the bright yellow rectangle near the door knob. The stickers had been Lieutenant Mason's idea. They listed a number to call for information about receiving the cure and had a space to list the local distribution spot with a marker. Mike pulled another sticker from his breast pocket and turned toward the door of his former building.

"I got this side Paul. And damn it, call me Mike, not Sir." He was about to place the sticker when he heard the sound of tires screeching. Two trucks were racing up the street, probably half a mile away, but he could see them coming on fast. He had to believe they were coming for them. They had run into this before, citizens patrolling their own neighborhoods. They could be dangerous or they could be allies, but they'd have to meet them to find out. "We're about to have company." He called out to Paul. "Take cover."

He noticed then that there was no where to take cover within 100 yards of the two buildings. The only trash cans and abandoned cars were several buildings away and the alley was too far from the door. "Aw fuck it all to hell." Someone had known what they were doing here. Expecting trouble, he motioned to Paul to get down in the basement well and he did the same, raising his gun, although it would be useless from this vantage point. But, it would also be hard for them to shoot him without getting close enough for him to try to negotiate first. A few blocks away the trucks split and each went a block to either side. Whomever it was really knew what they were doing.

He heard the trucks stop and counted four doors slamming. So at least four guys then. Shit. This afternoon was going from bad to worse. He heard boots running up the alley and then silence. He couldn't see the alley to his left but he could just barely see two guys in desert camo, M16s in their hands, emerge from the alley across the street. He decided it was now or never.

"I know you've got a shot on me." He called out loudly in case the decision maker in this group was the guy he had a line on across the street. "But I've got one of your guys across the street in my sights too." The guys across the street crouched down and then looked to his right. Now he knew where the leader was. He directed his next statement in that direction. "I will put down my weapon if you release my partner over at Number 6 there. He's an unarmed civilian."

"Put your gun down on the sidewalk and I'll think about it." The voice was younger than he expected, with a slight southern accent. Across from him, Paul looked about wide eyed like a deer caught in a highway median. He unclipped his gun and placed it on the sidewalk as instructed. Then he removed his sidearm and placed it next to it.

"Can I come up and talk now?"

"I want all the weapons." The kid insisted, yet again showing that this was no street gang or ordinary vigilante group. Mike sighed and placed three knives on the pavement as well. There was still a small blade in his boot but they'd have to get close enough to frisk him to find it. "Alright guys, bring that guy over here." Mike saw the two men across the street relax. "You there in the hole. Put your hands on your head and come out, slowly." Again, Mike did as he was told. "Sit on the step." One guy motioned to him and he did as he was told while studying the leader from the back. All four were wearing ACUs. The guy sitting him down appeared to be a private first class Findley. A specialist and private were arriving from across the street with Paul. Two of them had vests and their weapons were consistent with current Army issue as well.

Findley eyed his breast pocket uneasily. "Ah Sarge, I think you'd better see this."

Their leader half turned, but it looked like he was waving to someone in Number 6. Mike saw the moment he recognized the Navy uniform, took in his rank and nametag. "Holy Shit!" The kid turned to face him squarely and Mike took in the nametag. Interesting.

"Well, now that we have established that you don't have the authority to hold me, Mr. Simpson-Slattery, I'll have to kindly ask that all of you put down your weapons." Mike took a chance that they would be intimidated and rose to stand at his full six foot four inches. Three pairs of eyes swung to see what their leader would do.

"Indeed Sir. I meant no offense sir. Just following our orders to guard the property Sir." Sergeant Simpson-Slattery began laying weapons on the sidewalk and his men followed suit. Mike evaluated him like he would someone newly appointed to PO2. He moved smoothly and confidently and he kept an eye on Mike the entire time. He was nearly as tall as Mike and fit, with short blond hair and a square jaw. Given that he still had some filling out to do and he was a Sergeant, Mike guessed he was about 22 years old. He'd have the looks to give Green a run for his money with the ladies once he bulked up a bit too. But he looked tired, exhausted actually, with deep shadows under his eyes and a general sense of weariness about him that came from more than just a few long nights.

Everything looked legit so far, but they had certainly run into people masquerading as military, even on this trip. "Where did you train?" He watched their faces but none of them seemed to be trying to remember anything special.

"Fort Benning and then Fort Bragg and then I was over in Afghanistan for six months and then Fort Leonard Wood. I had just joined the unit up at Aberdeen when the flu broke out."

Mike was surprised. The kid must have enlisted fresh out of high school. "That's quite a bit of training for an E-5? What's your MOS?"

The kid stood slightly taller, twisting so Mike could see the Sapper badge on his arm. "Combat Engineer." Mike pursed his lips. Well, if he was going to run into a company of low ranking Army kids, at least he found some potentially useful ones.

"And who is your commanding officer and where are they?"

"Sir, we are commanded by Major Hector Velasquez. He's currently with the rest of our unit attempting to make contact with you at Great Lakes, Sir."

Finished with removing weapons, the four of them held out their CAC's to Mike and stood at attention while he studied them. PFC Findley and PFC Chan were still 18 and probably had just finished training when the Red Flu broke out. Specialist Goodwin was the only woman in the group and apparently a linguist. He glanced at Sargeant Simpson's CAC and back to the kid's face. "Only says Garth Simpson here."

The kid held up his left hand and wiggled his fourth finger. "Got married since the Red Flu broke out. We don't have a way to get our CACs updated right now." Mike glanced up from the ID to the the kid's name strip and back again. It was definitely the same kid. He was getting a bad feeling about this.

"You should have asked me for my ID before you relinquished your weapons soldier. We've run into imposters before. And interesting choice of name. How'd you get that? It's a bit much for a badge isn't it?"

"Sir, yes sir. But I've seen your picture before sir. As for the name, ah, it was her idea sir. My grandfather was a bit of a big name in meteorology back in the day so I didn't want to give up my name, but she's very proud of hers too. And well, she's quite the feminist." The kid stared straight forward, not daring to meet his eyes. Feminist huh? Christine never had been before, but he supposed there was a first time for everything. "The cure, you have it? I cannot take you in to her if you don't."

Mike nodded, still confused. "Once you shake Paul's hand, you'll have it too. There will be time for that later. Right now, You've got a lot of explaining to do. Bring me to my wife. Or should I say, ex-wife? I guess this means she turned in those papers before all this hit." He probably should feel sad about that, but oddly, it didn't disturb him at all. All his anger toward his wife had bled away over the weeks and months of worry.

The kid swallowed nervously. "Open up five." He spoke into his radio. "And better send Christine and Emma down to the office." He gestured for them to follow and they stomped into the building. So far the kid had impressed Mike, especially considering he must just barely have been promoted.

Mike's gut squeezed. "Only Emma now?" His voice sounded tight and strained, even to himself.

Garth glanced over his shoulder at that. "No! No Sir! Riley is fine." He swallowed hard. "Just, um, resting." As he led them into an open apartment on the left, Mike took in the hallway. The mailboxes looked the same but the laundry lines strung up the stairs were new. Many of the apartment doors were open and he could see curious faces peeking over railings and around corners.

An older gentleman shuffled toward them. "Garth! How do you know they are safe? Major Velasquez was very specific that no one gets in when he's not here." The man was clearly agitated. Mike had to admit he was impressed when Specialist Goodwin immediately took the man by the hand and began leading him back the other way. "That's Commander Slattery. He's OK."

"Perhaps my associate Paul, he's a volunteer with the CDC, could begin meeting and greeting people here in the hall to spread the cure. He's got the Scott cure right now."

Garth nodded. "Chan, start taking him around. If you finish here before we're done, go over to Numbers 6 and 7." Chan spoke quietly to Paul and they began walking down the hall.

There was a commotion from a few floors up and Mike heard Christine. Finally! After months of wondering if they were alive he would find out what happened and see his girls again. He couldn't help but smile. She was coming down the stairs as fast as she could in a faded sweater and jeans, her curly blond hair in a big fluffy pony tail, just the way he remembered. "Mike. You really are alive!"

And beside her was his Emma. While his wife looked thinner than he remembered, Emma had filled out some. Her hair was even longer than before and she was crying "Dad!" She launched herself into his arms from three steps up and he caught her with an Umph.

"Oh my goodness." He realized he was crying into her froth of blond hair but he didn't care. It had been seven months since he'd seen his baby and he had spent most of that time wondering if they were even alive. "Look at you all grown up."

"We heard about you and your ship and the cure and everything two days ago. We have been preparing to come to Saint Louis after Riley…" Emma was hugging and kissing him and he spun her around again.

"After Riley what?" He set Emma down and didn't miss the look she gave her mother. She was afraid to tell him something. His stomach dropped like a stone and he turned on his wife. Well, ex-wife now. He saw the glint of new gold on her ring finger too. If Riley was sick, he needed to get Paul up there before she was too far gone.


	13. Chapter 13 - Mannish Boy

You know that saying about the best laid plans? I had actually planned to wrap up this story before the season began this summer! Ha! I'm only finally arriving there now! Chapter 13's a wrap for this section. I am going to be working on something non-fanfiction for NaNoWriMo and I'll be back with the 4th installment (Think Win-WIn) in December. I've currently drafted 22 chapters ahead of here so I promise, promise, promise that this story will be back. The coming chapters have all the favorite characters in them plus some I haven't posted much about yet...Lieutenant Garnett, Miller, Sasha and many more have a part in the continuation of this story. So have a great November. And if you do NaNo, I'm LateNightReader over there too, so come over and say hi, and we can cheer each other on to 50,000 word glory!

**Mannish Boy, Muddy Waters**

Mike took it as a good sign that Christine was smiling. But then again she didn't hug him, and she was usually a hugger. She laced her fingers together in front of her, the way she did when she was nervous. "It's good to see you Mike. Come on up to our apartment. I hit the button on the coffee maker the second I heard it was you." She tilted her head to indicate the stairs and he remembered why they had moved out of this place, no elevator. He followed her up one flight, still holding Emma's hand. She was chatting on nervously about the holiday projects she was doing to keep all the kids busy. There were paper snowflakes taped to the wall and strings of popcorn mingled with the laundry hung between the turnaround railings. On the landing, a large tree was decorated with paper ornaments labeled with family names. His eyes immediately narrowed when he saw Christine and Hector on one and Garth and…

The nametag suddenly clicked into place. "Riley Louise Slattery!" He shouted.

Christine spun on him. "Now don't get upset Mike. Things are different, more complicated than…"

"Dad?" There she was, his tiny little Lucky Leprechaun. Except she was more like a tiny whale. She waddled out into the hall with a belly that would put Commander Green's to shame. She was wearing something like yoga pants and a tank top under a zip up hoodie, but her gravid belly peaked from under the tank top, topped with an inside out belly button. "What took you so long?"

He stood, feet glued in stunned revolt as Sargent Simpson called past him. "You know you need to be in bed Riley. Even for this." The young man spoke sternly but kindly to his daughter as he took the stairs two at a time behind Mike. He resisted the urge to shove the kid back down the stairs with a well placed boot.

Like the teenager he had left behind, she stuck out her tongue at the man he supposed they were going to tell him next was her husband. "Put a sock in it Garth. That's my Dad!" She held out her arms to hug him but it was only a very quick hug and Mike could feel the nervous tension vibrating through her before she stepped back and led the way into the apartment. "Uh, welcome home Dad."

Christine tugged his sleeve. "Come on in." In a daze, he followed her into the tiny studio apartment they had lived in twenty years ago. He barely took in the new appliances and unfamiliar furniture as Garth assisted his daughter toward where a stack of pillows, pile of romance novels, and a quilt he recognized from her room back home told him she had been spending a lot of time on the sofa.

Emma pulled over two kitchen chairs and Christine poured him a coffee. "Would somebody tell me what the hell is going on here?" He sat in one of the chairs and held the coffee, not even trusting himself to take a sip. He gestured between Christine and Garth. "So it's not you two." He nodded to Riley. "It's you two?"

Three people tried to answer at once and all he took in was when Emma burst out laughing. "You thought Mom could snag a hunk like Garth? Go Mom!"

He waved a hand to indicate the apartment, and the couch, and Riley. "Sargent Simpson. Tell me what's going on here." Mike was flabbergasted. Of all the crazy things Riley had done, this was the worst.

"Ah, it's Simpson-Slattery Sir and.."

God that kid had balls, he had to admit it. "Until I authorize the use of my name, it's still Simpson. Now sit rep, go." He barked at the young man, who was still standing squarely by the back of the sofa.

"She's supposed to be on bedrest. Had a little scare last week Sir and we still have five weeks to go. The midwife says they might come anytime, but the longer they stay in, the better." He said the last bit while staring down at Riley with a rueful tilt to his head. But Mike noticed his daughter was apologizing with her eyes too. He'd always figured she wouldn't be happy with a boy that she could push around. He hadn't guessed she'd find her match quite so soon though.

"They?" He questioned in disbelief.

Garth nodded curtly, tiny smile fighting at the corners of his mouth. "Twins sir."

Mike eyed his daughter. She looked miserable. Her skin was red and her ankles bloated. "I thought you knew better."

"And I thought I was going to die and my father wouldn't know or even care." She spat back from her perch on the couch, tossing her red curls over her shoulders.

"Riley, how did this happen? You were just a little girl when I left you."

She gave him a withering look. "Yeah that's exactly it Dad. When you left us. You weren't around when we needed help. We tried and tried to reach you but no one would tell us where you were." Garth frowned at her tone but kept his mouth shut. Poor kid, Mike thought as he ran a hand through his hair. Damn it. He knew he deserved her anger, but his behavior wasn't under examination here. He looked to Christine but she was sitting with her arms crossed over her chest. "Has the story of Operation Bluenose reached Chicago yet?"

Emma practically jumped in her chair. "Never mind Riley. She went from lovesick princess to evil stepsister months ago. Living with her is the best birth control ever!" Riley gave an exaggerated roll or her blue eyes, which were a perfect copy of his own blue-gray shade. Even in these conditions Emma couldn't pass up the chance to assert her position in the game of sibling rivalry. "Yes we know all about it, and we get to say our Dad," he didn't miss the pointed look she gave her sister, "is one of the heroes who made the cure possible. Was it amazing Dad? Are you going to get a special medal or anything?"

He immediately remembered Chandler saying he wanted Maya, the woman who died in the vaccine trials, to receive the Navy Cross. He certainly didn't feel like he deserved any medals himself. "I don't think so honey. I was just doing my job. We didn't even know the Red Flu was happening until early September and then, right after I learned about Lucas from your mother.." God his heart ached just thinking about his son. "..some dangerous things happened and we had to work to protect the scientists until they could create the cure."

At least Emma didn't seem to hold a grudge against him. She was squeezing his entire arm like a boa constrictor with a rabbit. "Well Major Velasquez says Garth will probably get a medal for protecting us in Maryland, and maybe again for all the work he's done maintaining quarantines here in Chicago too." He was surprised to see the younger man hang his head, his lips firm and his eyes tight. He didn't seem very proud of his accomplishments.

"But how did you all end up in Chicago anyway?"

Emma happily took on the role of story teller. She explained how Garth's unit had come down from Aberdeen to protect their safe zone in Deer Park. Then when Amy Granderson's people came and tried to get everyone to go to Olympia, by force, there was some kind of disagreement between Major Velasquez and his commanding officer and Velasquez said he wouldn't let them take the non-sick. "They said they came to help, but when we wouldn't go, Granderson's people shot at us!" She explained how Velasquez took them to a lake he knew in West Virginia, but then it started getting cold and more and more people were coming in from the cities and they voted to move on. "We heard a rumor that Chicago had a functioning government and city services so we came here. Mom suggested this neighborhood."

Mike let it sink in a little. He owed a huge debt to these men. But there was a little part Emma had left out. He waved a finger between Riley, siting petulantly on the sofa, and Garth, standing resolutely near her feet. "And when did this all happen?"

Christine was the one who answered. "Right after Lucas died. You have to understand Mike, we thought we were all going to die." She gave him a stare he recognized as her I-am-the-mother-don't-contradict-me face. He did the math in his head, June. His daughter had been married and pregnant for nearly eight months and he hadn't even known.

"I see." He pressed his lips together.

"If it makes you feel any better," Garth interjected. "We got married first."

He stared the young man down. "For God's sakes, she's not even 18 and how old are you? 22? You're not helping."

Garth didn't say anything but Riley met Mike's eyes with a an angry glare. "Lay off him Dad. He's only just barely 21 and he's saved my ass more times in the last eight months than you have my entire life."

Furious, he slammed a fist down on the arm of the chair. "Saved your ass? You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my ass." he turned on his ex-wife. "And what the hell were you doing when this guy was impregnating our Little Leprechaun? Too busy shacking up with someone new?"

"Calm down Mike. For goodness sakes. Garth's a good man and they are good for each other. What's done is done." Christine shook her head crossly. "You were off playing war hero but life went on here. I filed the divorce papers that you had already signed the day after you sailed and yeah, I did let myself start a new relationship because you know what, you've hardly been here for the last 15 years and I was tired of being alone."

The heat of anger flashed through him but burned out almost immediately. There was nothing he could ever do to please her. He had warned her when they met and he was just a kid, fresh out of high school, newly enlisted, that this was the life and work he wanted. Then when she talked him into mustering out, he'd become a cop. But after he'd finally worked his way up to detective and the work started to get interesting, she'd complained it was too dangerous. How could he have known his return to the Navy would just barely precede the September 11th attacks? But that was an old argument, and perhaps one left in the past.

He looked at what was left of his family. They were healthy. They had lost Lucas but his girls looked like they had come through relatively unscathed. And holy shit, he was going to have grandchildren. His heart was alternately bursting with joy at finding them and throbbing in pain for how much had changed. "So what are you doing here in Chicago, besides keeping this safe zone on the down low?"

Christine relaxed a little against her chair. Apparently she didn't want to argue either. "My husband has been helping the mayor secure food and fuel supplies for winter. Sergeant Simpson-Slattery's team was working at another apartment block a few miles from here when you showed up. We've kept this place off the grid and been very strict with security. Over in Hillcrest Place, two buildings were infected last week when looters broke in searching for food."

Mike saw that PFC Goodwin's eyes closed briefly and she appeared to mutter a prayer under her breath at the mention of the two buildings. "What do you mean the buildings were infected?"

Garth cleared his throat. "Ah, it is the mayor's policy that if the flu breaks out in a building or neighborhood the entire location is immediately put on lockdown, Sir. No one in or out, until 10 days after it is over."

Mike's stomach roiled. The mayor hadn't talked about any special quarantine policy. "Over?"

Garth nodded woodenly, grief evident even in his young face. "10 days after the last sighting of a live person, sir. We chain the doors or board up from the outside if we have to." The horror of it hit him in the gut like being hit with a 100 mile per hour pitch.

He must have let some of it show on his face because Christine attempted to reassure him. "It is truly ghastly, but many count it as the reason that Chicago has fared relatively well. The survival rate here is over 10 percent, while other cities became the worst hit hot spots." Still, even she looked a little green as she said it. He thought briefly about the things they had seen in Baltimore and other places and considered if this was worse. On the one hand, survival rates might be higher, but at what cost? Emma had her hands over her eyes, obviously troubled by the idea of people being left to die without medical care. Riley was staring at her swollen toes. Garth had his jaw clamped tight. He guessed there had been many discussions about the morality of the forced quarantines already, and decided not to press the issue for now.

"Well, with the contagious cure, that will be a thing of the past." He announced. "My ship spent most of the summer in the arctic with the scientist, Dr. Scott, who developed the Scott cure. We started spreading it two weeks ago in St. Louis, and already we've had three days with no new cases reported outside of the people coming into the city to get the cure." He wanted his family to know why he had been away. He wanted them to be proud of him. And he wanted Riley to have less of a reason to resent his absence. She only shrugged.

Garth's cheeks reddened. At least the kid seemed to have an idea of decent behavior. "Sir, we have heard it's effective against people who are already infected, is this true?" His voice rose in a hopeful tone.

"Yes. If they aren't too far gone it can save them."

Riley pushed herself up a little straighter and took Garth's hand. "You should do it Garth. Ask him. He can override Velasquez." Garth shook his head but then seemed to reconsider when Riley said, "You know you won't feel right if you don't at least ask."

Mike grew suspicious. He would like to avoid creating trouble within the kid's chain of command, if possible. "Ask me what?"

"I want to go to Hillcrest and see if anyone can be saved there. I wanted to go to Saint Louis last week, to get the cure, but Velasquez said no. After what Amy Granderson did, well, I can't exactly blame him for being cautious. But I feel like if I had gone, these people at Hillcrest wouldn't have gotten sick in the first place."

Mike nodded. He'd had the same feeling while they were planning for this trip. Everyone had been impatient to get on with spreading the cure. "Can you take us there and get us inside?"

Garth glanced down at Riley and seemed to contemplate a minute before he answered. "I'll take you there, but you are outside my chain of command and I can't break orders. Perhaps I could call and discuss with Major Velasquez first." As much as he wanted to hate the kid, his strict adherence to protocol was growing on Mike already. If he was a petty officer on his ship, he would have wanted him to do the same thing.

It didn't take long before Major Velasquez was reached and they were on their way. Emma tried to get Mike promise to come back and spend the night. Christine had nixed that idea and promised to bring her to Great Lakes tomorrow so they could talk. Riley only scowled "You need sleep Garth. Don't let him suck you into working all night."

They took two trucks and Mike let Garth drive him. Besides not knowing where he was going, he wanted to observe the kid in action. "I am going to apologize now for what you will see Sir. It isn't pretty."

Mike nodded. "In the last 8 months I have seen more horrors than the rest of my 46 years before. Nothing surprises me now." He shouldn't have spoken so soon.

Garth turned into a 1980's era concrete apartment project. There wasn't a single person in sight. "The neighboring buildings cleared out at the first case, nine days ago."

"Nine days? My God, have they been in there with no food all that time?" His mind reeled. How many had died in those nine days? How could there be anyone left? He remembered the briefs Green and Burk had made after the Italian cruise ship, and the slowly dwindling crew Beatrice had described. If there was any chance that someone was still alive, they had to go in.

Behind him PFC Chan cleared his throat. "Initially the mayor mandated food distribution into quarantined areas, but we lost nearly half our brigade in the first two weeks.." His voice cracked "and shooting those who tried to break quarantine when we unlocked the doors to pass out food was very…" he couldn't go on. Beside him Mike could see that Garth closed his eyes briefly.

"We heard a hospital in Milwaukee was allowing patients to self euthanize. Do you know if that is true." Goodwin asked.

My God, Mike thought. He hadn't heard any of this in St. Louis. Then again, maybe they hadn't been asking the tough questions. "I don't know. We've been focused on getting volunteers and spreading the cure as fast as possible. It's the priority of all the military for now."

Garth parked the truck and turned to address them before he got out. "Major Velasquez recommended that we open the building, call inside, and then let people come out to us first. He doesn't want us risking attack by going inside. But he also confirmed what you said about the unified command and instructed us to follow your orders, Commander." Mike took in his pale skin and clenched jaw and realized that Garth was afraid. And why shouldn't he be? He hadn't seen the cure work. If it didn't work he could be bringing the Red Flu home, to the people he'd protected for months, and to the wife Mike had seen with his very eyes he was very much in love with. But he sat there, calmly tamping down his fear and waiting Mike's orders. His estimation of the young man rose yet again.

Mike stepped out of the truck, tilting his head to indicate that Garth should join him at he hood. "Ok. I won't argue with Major Velasquez on that. But, this is your city and your operation. How about you lead and I'll be here to provide the cure and be your backup." He accepted his weapon back from Garth. Apparently he was trusted enough for that now that Christine had verified his identity. Considering he was taking very little personal risk with this, but in many ways he was sending them into a black box, it only seemed fair to let Garth lead his own team without disruption. "Paul has the injectable vaccine which is most effective for advanced cases. Once people stop coming out, I can accompany him inside, if you'd rather not go in."

The younger man inclined his head and circled his hand over his head to call the rest of his team over to the hood of the car. "If it's all the same to you sir, I'm the one that locked this door. I should be the one to face what's inside."

A day later Mike watched with Danny Green as Simpson and his team prepared to head toward Detroit with the rest of the Nathan James team. "I wish I was going with you Lieutenant, but this way, by the time you send his team back," He nodded toward his new son-in-law, "Major Velasquez and I will have the joint recruiting and training center established and I'll also get to spend a few days with my family."

Danny smiled. "Don't worry Sir. Everyone appreciates the importance of family. And with Wolf, Tex, and Simpson-Slattery to help, I think we'll do fine."

"I think so too. Just don't let him out of your sight."

"The Sargent? I like him already." Green glanced over his shoulder to where Simpson-Slattery's blond head was bent together with Wolf and Tex talking about techniques for sheltering during overhead fire.

Mike shook his head and lowered his voice. "No, he's good. I meant the President. This is his first international meeting, and I still don't trust him."

"Don't worry, I don't trust him either. One of us will be on him every second." Mike had always thought Green had good instincts.


End file.
